Twisted
by mArTiNaMcBrIdErOx91
Summary: What if it was Cricket who moved back to Dallas instead of Amanda? Will she be able to find love again after a tough life in LA? Who will befriend her and try to help her make sense of what happened? Warning: mentions of abuse. Image credit: broadwaybabeWA
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

Cricket Caruth had been married to Mason Massey for eighteen years. They lived in a large home on the outskirts of LA where he worked as a lawyer. They were both originally from Dallas, but they moved to California when she got pregnant with their daughter, Alexandra. Things started out great, he had a steady job, and Cricket started taking business courses at UCLA. She was smart, made As and a few Bs and worked her way through graduation.

She had herself a job as a secretary in a small company, because, well, that was all she could find when she had a young child. Things took a turn for the worse when Mason lost his first case, he came home drunk, and took it out on Cricket. Thankfully little Alexandra was at a sleepover so she'd never know her daddy was violent when he was drunk.

Things didn't get any better for Cricket. She began to miss her family, well, what little of that she had, back at home. She'd been the social outcast because of rumors spread by Amanda in high school so she wasn't sure who her friends were. She was devastated to find that her daddy had given the company to her only friend, Blake, instead of her when she graduated. She thought it was because Blake chose to go to the University of Texas, instead.

Mason continued to lose cases, and the ones he did win, hate mail was sent, and their house and cars were vandalized repeatedly. She was as scared as ever one night, he'd lost a case, came home drunk, and of course, took it out on her. When she finally gave in or got knocked out, he'd go to Alexandra. But Cricket didn't know that, Alexandra was too scared to tell her mom what daddy did.

Their house got vandalized once more, and someone wrote the words 'you're dead' on their front lawn. This mortified Cricket, but she was too scared to call the police because of Mason's behaviors. She just turned on her sprinklers in hopes of washing it away.

She was lucky, it rained that night. However, Mason wasn't. Once again he was coming home drunk but couldn't see the stop sign a few streets down from their house. Another car was coming in the opposite direction and he t-boned the car.

Alexandra could see what she thought was smoke, and told her mom to call the police, but she was too scared and said someone else would. Three hours later the smoke went away and there was a knock on the door. It was two AM and Cricket was struggling to get some peaceful sleep. She threw on a long robe so whoever it was couldn't see the bruises left by Mason.

"Mrs. Massey?" a man in a police uniform asked.

"yeah, what can I do for ya?" she asked, trying to hide how tired she was and afraid that her black eye would show, even in the dimly lit hallway.

"There was a crash not too far from here and we believe your husband, Mason, was involved"

She sighed, "Oh…"

"I'm sorry, ma'am… but he didn't make it. the car caught fire when it collided with the other" the balding man explained.

This didn't phase Cricket, learning that her abusive husband was dead. "what… do I need to do?" she asked.

"We want to have you come down to the morgue to identify his body, and then we'll let you go from there with funeral arrangements" he explained.

"a.. alright. do I have to now? my sixteen year old is sleeping" she quietly asked, still hiding her fear. She was also afraid of what they'd see when she stepped into the bright lights of the morgue, none the less, a hospital.

"it would be best. I'm sure your kid will be fine for a few minutes" he suggested.

"I guess so. Can you give me the address of the hospital so I can possibly meet you there?" she asked.

"sure." He handed Cricket a slip of yellow paper and was on his way. she slid down to the floor after the door was closed and took some shaky deep breaths. She hated the time difference right now, she wanted to call her daddy, Blake, someone.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Five months later it was discovered that her husband was a con artist as well. He had been in all kinds of dirty business that Cricket didn't want to know about. All the money he said they'd had, was suddenly gone and Cricket was living on a secretary's salary in a mansion with a sixteen year old girl.

When the Feds began investigating they decided to take everything she owned. This was the worst day of Cricket's life, besides the day he first hit her. Her lawyer brought up Daddy Bo and she nearly wanted to strangle the man. Bo was going to flip, she just knew it. She'd hear all kinds of hate from him, 'a daughter wouldn't get herself in this mess' 'you can't handle a business, that's why I gave it to Blake' she didn't want that. she was determined to make it on her own in LA. But that all changed when the Feds took the ring off her finger, because, well, apparently, it was stolen. And they took the rug under her feet.

She picked up her iPhone, scrolled to the bottom of her contacts list to a name she never touched, 'Daddy Bo' she hesitantly tapped on his name and he answered right away. "hi, dad?" was all she could mumble before breaking. she spent the next hour getting yelled at but then he realized what was happening and decided he would give her a home, and a job at the business. After all, her buddy Blake was the CEO.

Eight days later, she pulled her small SUV into the driveway of a house her daddy once owned. Alexandra sighed, and got out. She grabbed a bag and went to go explore the home, which was just about as large as the one in LA, which brought some comfort. Cricket sighed as well, her friend had the job she always wanted, there was no way her daddy would give it to his broken outcast of a daughter who was trying to kick a drinking problem.

She stepped in the house, it was nice, open and very spacious. She wandered her way into the huge master suite and immediately decided she liked it and wished she had someone to share it with, but knew she never would.

She called her dad to let him know they made it to Texas and she'd be at work in the morning, or so she hoped. She sighed, it was Thursday, and she knew in a few days she'd have to face everybody at church.

That night she fed Alexandra, her dad was kind enough to stock the kitchen. She helped Alexandra get things set up in her new room and finally drug herself downstairs and into the big master suite. She sighed, it was so lonely in that huge house with just her and her daughter.

She changed and curled up in the huge bed and let out a deep sigh. She wouldn't bring herself to cry, she never did. No matter how many times Mason hit her, kissed her when she didn't want it, touched her. She didn't even cry at the funeral. And she wasn't about to cry now. She just drifted into a fitful sleep, in hopes of her first day at work being a good and easy one.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

Morning came too early for Cricket, since she didn't get much sleep. Her 5:30 alarm startled her, to say the least. She showered, pulled out one of her few dresses and did her hair and makeup.

Her daddy had also registered Alexandra for school so she could start right away, it was the middle of the year and Cricket was worried what the kids would think of her, especially since they were from California and her dad's story had been circulating national news. She knew the ladies she went to school with had kids that went to Hillside, but wasn't sure if they were aware or would recognize who Alexandra was.

She went in to wake up Alexandra who was tossing and turning, "mornin hon…" she said, rubbing the sixteen year old 's shoulder.

"mama?" she mumbled.

"yeah sweetie, time for school" Cricket said, and with this Alexandra got up, dug through a box and sighed, "I need a towel…"

Cricket just smiled, and showed her daughter that the bathroom was already filled, all she had to do was grab her shampoo and take a shower. "who did this mama?"

She smiled again, and rubbed her daughter's shoulder, "your granddaddy, he knew we were comin back so he set this up for us"

"oh… mmk… will you make me breakfast?" the teen asked.

"yeah, I will. School starts at eight hon" Cricket reminded her, even though she had told Alexandra about school the night before.

Her daughter nodded, and turned on the shower. Cricket sighed heavily and went downstairs to make breakfast.

She saw a message from her father that said he'd come see her at the office today. She didn't want to see her daddy until the bruises healed. He couldn't know, no one could. Not even Blake.

Alexandra came downstairs in jeans and a UCLA t-shirt. Cricket sighed, she was a prospect for a cheerleading scholarship there. And now that was probably no longer the case. Daddy Bo wouldn't let his granddaughter get into the same mess Cricket did.

But Cricket also knew if Alexandra wore that to school she'd be branded a javelina almost instantly. "sweetheart, do you have any of your dresses still?"

"why mama?" the teen asked, hiding a yawn.

"this school is a lot different from the one in California, we're in the really nice part of town, I'm not sure how much you wanna fit in but it might help if you dressed up a little more…" she explained.

"mama I'm tired. I don't think I have anything good enough to wear right now" the teen said, picking up the toast Cricket sat in front of her.

"alright hon. Just wear that today, maybe I'll see if Daddy Bo can get me some money so we can go shopping" she sighed, she didn't have very much either, the Feds took most of everything anyways. All her expensive jewelry, gone. All of her designer clothes that would have made her fit right in with the rest of her old friends, nearly gone, except for a few pieces she could prove she bought herself.

Mason spoiled Alexandra, she got everything she wanted. Tiffany & Co. Jewelry, a nice car, designer handbags, everything. Cricket's heart broke for her daughter when the Feds started raiding her room. She was at cheer practice, they had a competition that weekend. Mason and Cricket were both able to attend, for once. Now her daughter had nothing, she could probably get back on the cheer squad at Hillside, but her prospective UCLA scholarship was gone. Poor kid wouldn't give up a pair of Tiffany earrings she got for her fifteenth birthday, they were her first. She'd been wearing them every day since the news was circulating. She constantly said 'if I'm wearing them they're not allowed to take the clothes off my body'

Cricket drove her daughter to school in near silence. "can I be a cheerleader again mama?"

"just try to get through today, and we'll talk about it, alright?" Cricket replied. She wasn't sure if she had the money to pay for uniforms, shoes, pom poms, competitions, and hair bows.

The teen nodded and hesitantly got out of the small SUV and made her way to the front of the school. Cricket took a shaky deep breath as she drove to the office building her daddy owned. She really hoped he wouldn't be there when she got there first thing. She wanted to get her office set up.

She parked and got in the elevator to where her daddy said her office would be. She slipped by Blake's office without him noticing, thank God he was on the phone. She went into her office and jumped a little when there was a bouquet of brightly colored flowers on her desk with a card attached.

'_Crick, welcome back to Dallas. I thought you and Alexandra might like to use this' –Blake. _

She sighed when she saw the Neiman Marcus gift card and a very large number written on the back. Now she definitely didn't want to see him today.

She started sorting through things on her desk and a to do list that was obviously in her father's handwriting. She knew that meant he was here somewhere.

There was a knock on her office door and she looked up. Blake was hotter than she remembered him being. She sighed, he was probably married with kids, and was probably a great dad, and a loving husband, which was something would never have. Mason just gave Alexandra everything she asked for. Every cheer bow, new shoes every season, she got it. But he never was a caring father, if she was upset he didn't comfort her, and he certainly didn't comfort Cricket.

She motioned for him to come in and he smiled, "hey Cricket"

She looked down at her desk, not wanting him to see the faint lines of the bruise that she was trying so desperately to hide. "Hi…" she mumbled.

"how was your drive back?" he asked, knowing she had only been there one night.

"long, tiring, boring…." She said, with a deep sigh.

Blake knew she still had to be grieving. They were friends in high school, and that wasn't going to change now because she'd been gone for a long time. he walked around to where he was standing next to her and put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Cricket tensed when he touched her and took in a breath. Mason had shoved her up against a wall and her shoulders were sore.

"Cricket… it's okay" he said, pulling his hand away.

She sighed, "sorry Blake…" and still wouldn't look up at him.

"don't worry, I just thought you and Alexandra could use a little somethin to get some new stuff" he said, smiling, even though he knew she couldn't see it.

"thanks… I've got work to do… daddy Bo's comin… and…" she started, but the man in question walked through the office door before she could continue.

"Cricket! Come give daddy a hug…" he said, smiling at Blake, who stepped out of the room.

She took in a breath and walked over to her father, letting him embrace her. It took everything in her not to squirm away from his touch, because she knew he'd say something. She just wanted him to let go, and fast.

He final let go and she quickly made her way back to her desk, realizing she still hadn't said a word to her father. She was too scared to say anything or make eye contact with him. He would find out, for sure.

**A/N: I hope you guys like this! It's completely different, I know, but good things will come for Cricket if you keep reading and review to let me know! I'm open to suggestions on what should happen! **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

Cricket managed to get through work without shedding a tear, acting like a complete fool, or screwing up. Her daddy was happy to see her, which made her wary around him. She tried to avoid Blake at all costs because he was just too nice, and too goodfor her.

That night she made dinner for Alexandra and helped her get some things organized in her new room. They were able to finish organizing her things and she went to work on her very large bedroom. She felt so lonely in that room, she wanted someone to share it with. She hadn't even bothered to look to see if Blake was wearing a wedding ring, and she kicked herself for it.

But who was she kidding? Blake would never marry her, she'd been in California for eighteen years, has a kid, and her abusive husband died in a car crash because he was drunk.

The next morning she let Alexandra sleep in, since it was Saturday. The teen had been through a lot in the last few weeks and deserved a morning to sleep in.

She dragged herself out of bed, and had no intentions of getting ready for the morning, it was only nine and she wasn't expecting anyone. She started some coffee, since she was trying to stop drinking. She took her steaming coffee and peeked in Alexandra's room, she was still sound asleep. Her heart broke because she knew today was a big cheer competition back in LA, and the UCLA scouts were going to be there, to watch her.

Before this, Alexandra had never been to Texas, only because Mason hated it. She'd never met her grandfather, or any of Cricket's high school friends. She wasn't sure how well she'd fit in at school because she didn't tell Cricket much when she came home from her first day.

She quietly left her daughter's room and went to the living room. She heard some knocks on her door, 'who in their right mind would be over this early on a Saturday' she thought as she went to open it, still in her bathrobe, holding a cup of coffee, makeup-less.

She wasn't thinking about her black eye because she was too caught up in thoughts about how Alexandra's cheer team was doing. She panicked at first but decided she couldn't keep whoever it was waiting for too much longer.

She hesitantly opened the door to see Carlene, Heather, Sharon and Amanda and Gigi all smiling at her. She sighed, she'd heard about the 'welcome basket' from Carlene the last time they talked. She just looked into her cup of black coffee.

"did we wake ya up Crick?" Carlene asks.

"no, I've been up long enough for coffee… but I really wasn't expectin anyone" she answered.

She just got a smile and the women came in. Heather smiled, "nice place"

"thank Daddy Bo. He didn't want me livin in an apartment. Wanted Alexandra to go to Hillside. Funny though, because of the way I was treated when I was there" she said, wanting to glare at Carlene but couldn't because she was desperately trying to hide her eye.

Sharon sighed, "it's a good school Cricket. Did she say if she liked it?"

"not really, said it's too soon to tell. She was exhausted yesterday though" Cricket said, sighing.

Carlene handed Cricket a pink file folder, "here's some doctors, pediatricians, plastic surgeons…."

Cricket grabbed the folder from the shorter woman, "thanks. But now if you would please go home I've got a sleepin sixteen year old upstairs who I would like to keep that way"

Gigi sighed, "so we don't get to meet her? I thought you would be up and movin already this time of day"

"we've been here since late Thursday. I wanted her to get some sleep" Cricket said, starting to sound annoyed.

Before anybody could reply the teenager in question came down the stairs in pink pajama shorts and a cheer t-shirt from her old school. "mama?" she yawned.

Cricket sighed angrily at the women and went over to the stairs, "yeah sweetie?"

"who's here this early?" Cricket couldn't help but laugh, her daughter's hair was in a disheveled ponytail and she was trying to rub the sleep from her eyes.

"some of momma's old friend's hon. I didn't know they were comin, did they wake ya up?" she said, rubbing her daughter's shoulder.

Alexandra nodded, and yawned. "do I have to see them?"

"not if you don't want to. there's some cereal in the kitchen if you 're hungry" she said, smiling.

The teen nodded again and went to the kitchen. Cricket went back to the foyer and sighed angrily, "y'all woke her up. Wanted her to get at least another hour of sleep. we can catch up later, I was just gonna spend the day with her today"

Gigi sighed, and nodded, "alright girls, let's go. Good to see ya, Cricket. Call if ya need somethin"

The redheaded woman led all of the others out of the house and Cricket locked the door behind them. She went to check on Alexandra who was slumped over in a chair slowly eating a bowl of Cheerios. Cricket sat next to her and smiled, "sleep good sweetie?"

The teen just nodded, "do you know what today is?"

Cricket sighed, "I'm really sorry honey. I tried to convince the lawyers and the Feds to wait until after this weekend, but they wouldn't"

The teen said nothing, and continued eating her cereal. Cricket decided to let her eat, and told her she was going to shower.

She spent the rest of the day with Alexandra, who agreed to go shopping even though she was still upset about missing possibly the biggest cheer competition of her life.

She told Alexandra they would have to go to church in the morning, all the ladies knew they were back in town and they couldn't get out of showing their faces. She stayed with Alexandra that night until she fell asleep because she was nervous about meeting her mom's friends and upset to find out that her team won, and that her coach said the scouts asked about her.

Sunday morning came quickly for Cricket, who was faced with another restless night. She was exhausted, but showered and decided on a deep green dress and some black heels. She went to check on Alexandra, who was struggling to curl the back of her hair. She just smiled, and gently took the curling wand from her daughter's hand.

They drove to the church in silence, but Cricket reminded Alexandra that they'd meet all of her friends and that some of them had kids her age, or a little younger. They walked in to the church and sat closer to the back. She sighed, Carlene was in the choir, but it didn't surprise her one bit.

Cricket was somewhat relieved to find that Blake quickly made his way to her side after the service was over so she wasn't alone, though she preferred to be. "hey" he said, smiling.

She gave him a small smile back, figuring that she covered her eye up enough she could look at him. She noticed some anxiety growing in Alexandra and she put her hand on top of her daughter's. "Alexandra hon, this is Blake. He's one of momma's friends from high school"

She just smiled and said hi. Blake smiled, "have ya met Laura and McKinney yet?"

She shrugged, "may have seen 'em at school… I dunno"

Cricket sighed, and squeezed her daughter's shoulder. "I think McKinney's a cheerleader, why don't you go talk to her…"

Alexandra just shrugged. But Blake smiled again, Cricket had to kick herself because her heart fluttered every time he smiled at her. But he wasn't wearing a ring, so these feelings were okay, right?

"why don't I take ya over there to talk to them, give your momma a minute to say hi to her friends" Blake suggested.

Alexandra nodded nervously but Cricket gave her hand a gentle squeeze and nodded, "go with Blake hon, I'm not gonna leave ya here"

The teen agreed and followed Blake over to where the other two teens were standing, chatting about something.

Cricket sighed, and buried her head in her hands. She had to do something about these sleepless nights. She hadn't been able to sleep since Mason died. It was going on three weeks now, and she wasn't drinking so there was no alcohol to help her pass out. She contemplated calling one of those doctors that Carlene gave her, but they'd find out about the abuse too, when all she wanted was a sleeping pill.

Pastor Tudor came up and sat by her, "Cricket…"

She looked up, somewhat startled but recognized the voice as the pastor and sighed, "what?"

"everything goin okay?" the man asked.

She just gave him a small nod, and glanced over to her daughter who was ignoring Blake and talking to McKinney, probably about cheer. She hoped the girls would accept her daughter onto the squad and it would help her adjust to her new school.

"if you ever need somebody to talk to, you know my office is open" the man said, with a smile.

"yeah, thanks." She sighed, she just wanted to go home and try to sleep. Maybe if she had Blake by her side to hold her she'd get some rest. She mentally slapped herself, he wouldn't want her, especially after the herpes rumor in high school and she had a child, and just wasn't worth it.

Pastor Tudor could see the anxiety and hurt on Cricket's face, and knew something wasn't right. "I can give you the names of some good counselors if that's somethin ya need"

She just shook her head, "I'm gonna head home. Supposed to meet Daddy Bo for lunch." It was a lie, but believable enough. She got up and walked over towards her daughter, who was still talking to McKinney. Laura seemed uninterested, so she knew it had to be about cheer.

Alexandra smiled, "momma, she's gonna talk to the cheer coach"

"that's good honey… if you wanna get into that again we can work somethin out" Cricket smiled.

The teen nodded, "maybe some school here will give me a scholarship…."

Cricket sighed, she knew money would be tight, but was unsure if Daddy Bo would put his granddaughter through school, or even allow her to accept a cheer scholarship. "we can look into it hon" she said, she knew it would be the best answer for the teen since McKinney was still standing there and would understand that sometimes you had to find people to give you a scholarship.

"can we go momma?" the teen asked, looking nervous when the ladies started making their way towards Cricket.

"not yet hon, I have to say hi to them or they'll think somethin's wrong" Cricket said, squeezing her daughter's shoulder.

Cricket sighed and took in a deep breath when they approached her, Alexandra sighed and squeezed cricket's hand, unsure of what she should say, but luckily Carlene was first to talk.

**A/N: I know it's long! but I didn't want to cut the church scene in an awkward place. When will people find out what really happened to Cricket? Who should be the first to discover her dark secrets? **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

Cricket was able to keep the conversation and banter from the other women at a minimum, especially when she realized her teenage daughter was getting nervous. They went home and Alexandra found something to eat and went to explore the garden that was in the back yard.

Cricket sat down on the couch and sighed, she was exhausted, both emotionally and physically. She laid down and put her phone by her, in case someone important were to call. She pulled a blanket up over her and begged her body to fall asleep. she finally drifted to sleep twenty minutes later and was awoken less than an hour later by the haunting dreams of Mason on top of her. She sighed, thankful that Alexandra still wasn't in the house. She went to the bathroom and opened up the medicine cabinet. She frowned when there wasn't anything there for her to take to help her sleep. It was Sunday and she wasn't going to be able to call a doctor until morning to hopefully get some medicine.

Alexandra came in, changed and opened up her backpack. She sighed, the homework load on the weekend was much higher than that in LA, and decided she'd get started since she spent most of the previous day shopping with her mom.

She finished her homework and noticed her phone had started to ring, one of her really good friends from LA was calling and she went back outside to talk to her. This was the only friend that knew Alexandra didn't like Mason, but was unsure of the reason why. 

Alexandra noticed there were two new luxury cars outside of their house and ran to get Cricket. "momma!"

Cricket sighed, she now had a headache from the bad dreams and lack of sleep, "yeah sweetie?"

"somebody left two new cars out front…" she said, trying to sound excited.

Cricket got up, and followed her daughter out to the front of the house. She sighed when the paper tag read 'Peacham luxury motors' she knew there was no way she could repay Zach, well at least not anymore.

"which one do you want sweetheart?" Cricket asked, knowing there was no way her old SUV would compare to her friends cars, and Alexandra would need a car, it just made things more convenient.

Alexandra shrugged, opening the door to a brand new black Mercedes, looking inside. Cricket noticed a white card sitting on top of the grey one and picked it up, on the front it just said Peacham on it, but the inside had a message, _'just a little something to help cheer you up and make things easier' –a secret admirer. _

She sighed, cars weren't just a little something. But who was she to complain, her sixteen year old was smiling, sitting in the black Mercedes, and had found the keys. "I want this one momma"

Cricket nodded, "alright hon" and proceeded to let her daughter show her the inside of the car. Later that afternoon she tried to figure out who would send the cars, the message was typed so she couldn't try to decide who's handwriting it was.

She scrolled through her phone list and found Sharon's number. She didn't feel like talking to Zach, and it had been a while since she and Sharon talked.

"hello?" the blond answered, sounding way too happy for Cricket.

"hey Sharon, it's Cricket…" she replied.

"oh, hey Crick, what's up?" the woman said, still sounding happy.

"well two Mercedes were delivered to my house this afternoon and they were from Zach's dealership, did you know about this?" she asked, trying to sound somewhat happy.

"no I didn't, he's home, if you wanna talk to him" she suggests.

"don't worry about it, but there was a card that said that they were from a secret admirer. Any idea who that could be?" she asked, hesitating a little on the last part.

"not really sure, but I think it could be Blake, he seemed pretty interested on Sunday" Sharon replied, trying to hint to the woman that the man in question was someone worth befriending.

Cricket sighed, it could even be Pastor Tudor. But she immediately shook that thought from her head, he was just trying to do his job when he checked on her Sunday. "maybe, I guess."

Sharon sighed, sensing something was wrong in the sudden drop in Cricket's voice tone. "everything alright Cricket?"

"yeah, I'm fine. I just don't think he's interested" she said truthfully, she wasn't planning on dating anytime soon and just wanted a break from being in a relationship with the way Mason treated her. But she really did think Blake could be interested, he smiled at her, a lot, brought her flowers and the Neiman's gift card, and was nice to Alexandra at church. She just couldn't shake the thoughts of him away, especially when his smile made her heart flutter. Mason's never did, and she didn't even smile when she thought of Mason.

She then realized she could ask Sharon about getting Alexandra on the cheer squad, since McKinney was.

"like I believe that. He wouldn't stop smilin at you on Sunday" Sharon protested.

"speaking of Sunday, Alexandra told me she and McKinney talked, about cheer, and she wants to get back into it" Cricket replied, quickly changing the subject.

"I'll give you the coach's number and you can call her…" the blond woman replied.

"thanks. I know she'll be happy if she can get back into that, she had a scholarship almost lined up back in LA…" Cricket explains.

"well maybe she'll get somethin here. It's worth callin the coach for" Sharon said, feeling sorry for the young girl, everything she'd known and was used to was gone and she was trying to start over from what little was left.

"I hope so. It's what she really wants" Cricket said, and wished her daughter could still have her friends back home, at least it would bring her some form of comfort.

"let me know if ya need anything else, I've got some things to work on…" the blond replied.

"thanks Sharon... talk to ya later" Cricket said, and they ended the conversation. She decided taking care of Alexandra first was easier, no one had to know her dark secret. It would look good if she was able to get her daughter on the cheer squad right away, and get the teen a nice new car.

Little did Cricket know Alexandra had a dark secret of her own that she worked so hard to hide, and now it was easier since her father was dead. But there were some times she wished at least her mom knew, so it was easier to explain the sleepless nights. She was lucky she never had to explain a bruise, Cricket knew she was a flyer, so she was always up on top doing the stunts, and sometimes she fell, which could definitely cause bruises.

Now that Mason was dead, Alexandra desperately wanted to tell someone what he did to her because she just couldn't hold the secret any longer. She wasn't sure how her mom would react to the news, and was unsure of who she could trust in her new town. She still didn't know any of Cricket's friends that well, and wanted to make sure she told the right person when she worked up the courage to finally tell.

**A/N: I hope y'all like this! I wanna know if I'm getting readers still, so please review! I want your ideas, because I will most likely use them! How should Alexandra tell? Should Cricket see a doctor about her sleepless nights? Let me know!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

Alexandra had a pretty good day at school, despite the fact that her English teacher reminded her of her father, and she struggled to focus in that class. McKinney had given her the information packet about cheer tryouts, which were next week. She smiled, the redheaded teen had started to befriend her from when they talked about cheer at church. She was definitely trying out, she desperately wanted to get back into cheer and thought that the UCLA coaches could come watch her here.

She'd learned about the javelinas and foxes on her second day of school and was worried about what she would become. She felt better once she'd received the cheer packet, because she thought it lowered her chances of becoming a javelina. She had seen a girl become a javelina after a rumor was started and decided it was something she was going to try her best to avoid.

Once she got home she realized her mom wasn't there, but then remembered her grandpa had given her a job at the office. She sighed, she was alone, something she wasn't used to because she had cheer practice and was home after her mom. She hoped that would change soon once she tried out and made the team. She started on homework, but curiosity got the best of her and she started filling out the information packet instead. Once she finished that she started looking at schools in Texas that could possibly offer her a scholarship.

Cricket had yet another sleepless night and now it was going on four weeks. She was exhausted, and miserable. She thought with Mason gone she'd sleep better, but she was wrong. She'd written down some doctors to look up and finally settled on one, she called the woman's office hoping to get in that day so she'd have the medicine tonight.

She was lucky and the friendly receptionist was able to write her in at one. It was her lunch break so she didn't have to worry about explaining to Blake or anyone else where she was going.

She was nervous driving to the office and wished she had a friend to go with her, but she couldn't do that because she knew they'd find out her secret. She signed herself in and sat down, she tried to calm herself down so they wouldn't think anything else was wrong with her than just the lack of sleep.

A short blond woman called her back into the exam room and she was able to keep her emotions in check while they checked her height, weight, and temperature. The nurse must have picked up on her anxiety because she was being told to relax. She let out a sigh and tried to calm herself down.

The woman handed Cricket a gown and left the rom so she could change before the doctor got there. She quickly changed into the ugly white gown and sat up on the exam table. Her eyes started to grow heavy with sleep but she knew the dreams would haunt her if she laid down and tried to rest.

Twenty minutes later there was a knock on her door, so she told the person knocking it was okay to come in. She smiled at the tall blond woman, she didn't know how she'd react if the doctor were a man, it would be too much for her to handle, she knew that.

The woman closed the door and introduced herself as Dr. McBride, and Cricket just smiled again. "what's botherin you today?"

Cricket sighed, "I haven't been able to sleep, and I get headaches during the day because I haven't slept"

The doctor smiled, "how long has this been goin on?"

"four weeks…. " Cricket replied, leaving off a huge piece of information that she knew was the cause of her insomnia.

"did something happen that could have triggered this?" the blond woman asked, siting down on a stool.

Cricket was quiet and just shrugged. She looked down at her hands on her lap and tried to calm herself and keep her emotions in check.

"sometimes big things happen that can cause problems like this, it's a lot more common than you probably think…" the woman reassured her, trying to get her to feel more comfortable about talking.

Cricket decided the partial truth was better than a lie, "my husband died… I just moved back here from LA…"

The doctor sighed, "I'm really sorry about that, there's a couple things we can do to help you sleep better, I do want to do an exam first though, just to make sure everything else is okay"

At first Cricket tensed up, she didn't want the doctor looking at what was under her gown, there were still ugly bruises on her back and chest, from the beatings she'd gone through. She looked at her hands and bit her lip, trying to hide the tears that were threatening to spill over. The ones she'd been hiding since he first started beating her.

"it's okay if you're nervous, I know a lot of people don't like doctors…" the woman calmly said, trying to console her patient.

Cricket just nodded, and took in a breath, hoping it would make her tears go away. She thought about spilling everything to this woman, but she knew that as soon as the exam started she'd find out. "I'm okay…"

The blond doctor grabbed a blood pressure cuff and Cricket cooperated, allowing the woman to check her blood pressure, look in her eyes, and look at the rest of her head. She hid her pain when the woman came across some bruising from her black eye, but the hot tears were there, threatening to spill over any second.

Cricket was confused as to why the tears were so threatening now, when she was able to keep them at bay for so many years. She managed to let the woman listen to her heart without flinching but got nervous when she wanted to look at her back.

"you're doing good so far Cricket, I just wanna take a look at your back and listen to your lungs…." The doctor said, smiling.

Cricket was unsure of how bad her bruises looked because she was scared to look herself. She gave the woman a hesitant nod and felt her gown being slowly lifted up.

She took in a breath when it grazed a fairly new bruise. "your back is all bruised up, do you know how you got these?" the woman asked, concerned.

Cricket could only nod, afraid to speak because if she opened her mouth the tears would spill over, this was it, her dark secret wasn't much of a secret anymore. She just wanted some sleeping pills so she could continue to hide it until the bruises healed.

"I'm just gonna listen to your lungs, alright, just take some deep breaths…" the woman instructed.

Cricket did as she was told, the deep breaths helped keep the tears at bay, so she wasn't going to complain. The woman then told her she needed to lay down, and she cooperated, letting the woman listen to her heart again, and hesitantly let the woman check her stomach. Everything seemed pretty normal, except the fact that she was covered in bruises that were healing.

"what have you been thinking about doing to help you sleep better?" the woman asked when Cricket sat up again.

"pills?" she asked, unsure if that was an option for her.

"that is something we can try, though it seems like you're still trying to cope with what happened in LA, so it might also be good to think about seeing a counselor" Dr. McBride suggested.

"I just want the pills… I can't even concentrate at work because I haven't slept." The darker haired woman replied.

"I'll write you a prescription, but I want to see you again in two weeks to see if things are getting better. And Cricket, it's okay to tell someone how you got those bruises"

Cricket just sighed, and took the slip of white paper with the information she needed written on it. She agreed to make another appointment so the doctor wouldn't question things any more.

She waited for the woman to leave, pulled her purple dress back on, and left the office. She hoped tonight she'd actually get some dreamless sleep.

**A/N: hope you guys are still liking this! I'm seriously hoping ABC reconsiders their decision and brings this amazing show back. do you think Cricket should start letting Blake in? **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

A few days later Alexandra was slowly making some friends at her new school, McKinney had welcomed her quickly when she found out the teen was a cheerleader at her old school, and immediately invited her to tryouts. She had met the coach and struggled to keep in her dark secret, for fear that it would hinder her chances at friends, a spot on the squad, and everything else.

She was sitting in English, completely zoned out, her teacher reminded her of her dad and she couldn't figure out why. This was one of the only classes she didn't have with McKinney, and she hated it. She knew her mom would be angry if she skipped, so she tried to push through it every day.

At the end of the class period, her teacher called her name, she hesitantly stayed back to figure out what he wanted, and her heart rate was accelerating quickly as the other students left the room.

One girl smiled and closed the door so no one else would hear their conversation. She'd seen that happen before in other classes, so it wasn't completely new to her. "how are things going? I know you're new here, and I just wanted to make sure you're catching on" the older man said.

She just nodded, "I like English… it's really easy for me" it was the truth, it was her favorite subject back in LA, so she saw no reason in lying to her teacher.

The man smiled, and walked a little closer to her, and pushed some hair behind her ear. She jumped at the touch, she was starting to really freak out, it was lunch time and she knew her teacher didn't have a class. She wanted out of there and wanted to run, far away.

"it's okay Alexandra, it's just us in here" the man smiled, starting to rub her shoulders. She felt trapped, much like she did when her dad was drunk and her mom was either sleeping, or in the shower, is what he'd always say.

She opened her mouth to let out a scream that she'd been holding inside for a very long time, but he quieted her with a threat. Before she knew it she was laying on his desk, and he was starting to take her clothes off. Tears started streaming down her face, she didn't want this, if this happened she'd never make the squad. Everything was on the line for her in this moment.

She was lucky, his door was unlocked and another English teacher, a woman, had to deliver some copies to him and walked right in the door without knocking. The copies were dropped, forgotten on the floor when she realized what she had just walked in on. The teen was laying straight as a stick on the desk, terrified as the man touched her, in places she knew were inappropriate. Without thinking the teacher pushed the call button for the principals office and explained what was going on.

The man jumped off Alexandra and tried to run out of the room. The campus police officer arrested him and the woman rushed to the crying teen on the desk. "shhh, I'm Mrs. Bradford, it's okay now…"

Alexandra just laid there, stiff, her secret was out, she knew. She couldn't talk, she'd been threatened one too many times and knew what was waiting for her if she did. Her mom couldn't know either, she was just too scared.

"can you tell me your name hon?" the woman asked, taking off her jacket and covering the teen.

The brunette teen just shook her head and cried, she never said a word after things like this happened. It was too risky. The teacher sighed, and gave the assistant principal that had walked in a concerned look.

The blond AP sighed when she walked up to the desk, getting the teen to move and relax would be a struggle. "hon, I'm sure you wanna get outta here, why don't we bring you to the office and call your momma to take you home.."

Alexandra shook her head, her mom could never, EVER find out about what happened.

They eventually managed to get Alexandra to sit up, and finally helped her into the assistant principals office. She still hadn't told them her name, and this is when she was glad she was the new girl, they might not recognize her right away.

"all we want you to tell us is your name, it's okay if you're scared. If you tell us I can make sure you're not counted absent in any of your classes" the assistant principal said, smiling.

"A… Ale… Alexandra" the teen stuttered.

The woman sighed, she was the new girl who had started the week before. "I'm Mrs. Kendrick, I'm your assistant principal, we met last week on your first day"

Alexandra sighed, she was too scared to say anything, and didn't know what to say next. A healing bruise was now hurting her again because of where the man threw her on the desk. He was not gentle, and she didn't like him at all.

"oh…" she mumbled, deciding that one word answers were better than none. She couldn't decide if she should just spill everything, or continue to bottle it up inside, because of the threats.

"can you try to tell us what happened? He can't hurt you now" the blond asked, trying not to sound too worried.

Alexandra looked at her feet, and decided it was a now or never situation to let her secret out, "not the first time….." she mumbled. Unsure of where to start.

The teacher sighed, she wasn't quite sure by what the teen meant, but knew it wasn't good, she was afraid that the girl had been through way more than she should have at her age.

"what does that mean, has something happened before?" the assistant principal asked.

Alexandra nodded, "but he's dead now.."

The teacher and the assistant principal looked at each other concerned, and a little unsure of what to say to the upset, hurt, and confused teen.

The blond woman remembered something about Alexandra's grandfather mentioning her father had died, but he couldn't be the man the teen was referring to, could he? She sighed, and decided to ask, "who is he?"

This question caused the teen to let out a shaky breath, and look down at the floor, but she still responded with a three letter word that was barely audible, "dad…"

The English teacher's heart broke for the brunette girl sitting across from her crying. She didn't know this girl before today but she could tell her life hasn't been easy. the other woman had offered the teen a blanket and she was now curled up in it. Both women decided that getting anything out of her would be a struggle, and she just needed to calm down first.

Mrs. Kendrick sighed, "is this the first time you've told anyone about this?"

The teen just nodded, still unsure of how much she could tell without getting in trouble. She was scared, really confused, and she felt like things were her fault. She just knew that now that this was out, that the new girl couldn't protect herself against a creepy teacher, she'd be a javelina within a number of days. "forget it" she mumbled, It was just too much to handle.

"you're safe now, it's okay to let us know what's happened, no matter how long ago it was. If you've been told you'd get hurt for telling, that's not true. Sometimes people say things like that just to scare you. but Mrs. Bradford and I won't do anything to hurt you if you tell" the blond explained when she realized the confused and scared look on the girl's face.

Alexandra shook her head, "can't… tell"

After she said this she got up, and ran out of the room, leaving the blanket and the jacket the teacher had offered her behind. She didn't care if her top was torn a little, she had to get away. She wasn't sure where she'd run to, she was still unsure of where things were in her new town. She just drove, she passed her house, and quickly ran in to change. She left again, still completely unsure of where she was going.

She found herself nearing the church but decided against going in there. She then came up on McKinney's house, she'd been there once when she was included in McKinney's group for a project that had already been assigned.

The teen decided this was a safe place to stop and her mom could easily find her here if she stayed late enough for that. The AP had chased her to the car but she just kept running, and drove away as fast as she could. She just wanted out, she still felt completely trapped but didn't know what else to do.

She sat in Sharon's driveway crying, afraid to get out of the car, in fear of who would answer the door. She didn't want to deal with Zach, and she had no idea if Sharon was even home, and just needed a place to stop running.

She was still in her car twenty minutes later sobbing when the larger blond woman came outside, she had her purse in hand so she was obviously about to run an errand when she spotted the black car from her husband's dealership parked in her driveway.

Sharon recognized the car from a few nights ago when her daughter had the teen over. She was shocked when she glanced inside and saw the teen hunched over, head resting on the steering wheel, and her body shaking. She wasn't dumb, she could tell when a kid was crying, she had two of her own. And Alexandra was definitely crying. She saw the way the girl had jumped and tensed up when her husband came in the other night and was concerned, but let it drop.

Her shopping trip was immediately cancelled because she knew something really bad had to have happened for the young girl to show up in the middle of school hours at her house crying like she was. She didn't see any mud on the teen, so she was thankful for that, but knew it had to be something, but just couldn't pinpoint what.

**A/N: dun dun dun… what really happened to Alexandra? Will she open up to Sharon? And what should happen with the teacher? Sorry about the lack of anything blicket in this chapter, but this will set the stage for the start of their relationship. Review! **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

Sharon sighed, her friend's daughter was hurting, and she had no idea why. She slowly walked up to the car and lightly tapped on the window. "Alexandra…" she called, unsure if the teen would even hear her.

She cringed at the reaction she got, the teen jumped and looked out the window with a terrified look, she had tear streaks running down her face, as well as black makeup in the same path as the tear streaks. The blond woman smiled, letting the teen know it would be okay. she motioned for the girl to get out of the car but the brunette just curled up in a ball on her seat.

This was when she knew something was seriously wrong. She pulled on the car door handle, but it was locked. She sighed, she could run to Cricket's to find the spare key, but the teen would most likely be gone by the time she returned.

Alexandra realized Sharon wasn't going to just give up, after all she had ended up at the woman's house after her search for a safe place. She pulled the lock, but didn't make any moves to get out of the car. She looked away from Sharon as the woman slowly opened the car door.

"Alexandra…. Do you wanna come inside?" the woman asked, knowing that immediately asking what was wrong would scare the teen even more.

The brunette nodded and hesitantly got out of her car, leaving her phone and purse behind. She locked the car behind her and followed the blond woman into her house. Sharon guided her into the living room and let her sit down on the couch. She was definitely concerned, Alexandra was wearing a pair of athletic shorts and a tee shirt, which was something she knew Cricket wouldn't let her wear to school, unless it was for cheer practice.

Sharon sat in a chair beside her and smiled, "how long were you outside hon?"

The teen just shrugged, she had no idea, she had the radio off, and didn't look at her phone or clock the entire time. "dunno.."

The woman sighed, she had a lot to work with. "how come you're not at school?"

Alexandra tensed up, and reached for a blanket at the end of the couch, and hid under it. Sharon sighed, something definitely happened. She feared the worst, that possibly she'd been javelnaed, or that someone had hurt her. since there were no signs or traces of mud, the first option was probably not true.

"can I call them and let them know you're safe here? So they don't worry about you?" Sharon suggested, fully aware that the teen wasn't ready to talk.

"NO!" Alexandra shouted, she was afraid the principal would tell Sharon about the teacher.

Sharon sighed again, "alright, why don't we work on dryin those tears before we talk"

Alexandra didn't respond, she just continued to cry. Sharon decided that the teen was hiding something and it would only be a matter of time before she felt confident enough to tell her what it was. She wasn't going to push it, it would come.

She did what she could to offer the teen some comfort, but the tears kept coming. About an hour passed and she hadn't gotten more than a few words out of the young girl, but the sobs were slowly subsiding and her breathing evened out. Sharon realized she'd nearly cried herself to sleep.

The blond woman decided that letting the teen rest was a good idea and she'd talk to the girl when she woke up. She hoped she could explain to Cricket why her daughter wasn't at school and spent the afternoon crying on her couch. She hoped that McKinney could give her some ideas as to what happened at school. Her daughter would be home soon, they just had a short meeting today about tryouts before they started in two days.

The redheaded teen came in about an hour and a half later, and smiled at her mom. "hey… why's Alexandra's car out front?"

Sharon sighed, and quieted her daughter, "she's been here all afternoon, somethin's wrong, she cried for a long time, but she's sleepin now though"

The teen's eyes got wide, "Mr. Trevino got arrested today…"

"oh god, do you think he did something?" Sharon asked, glancing towards the couch.

"maybe. Rumor has it he was caught with a girl alone in his classroom, tryin to, well… ya know" the teen explains.

"Crap. Could it have been her?" the woman asked.

"it's possible, I know it's one of the only classes we don't have together, and she hates him. She never told me why though" McKinney replied.

"it makes sense, I'm gonna just let her sleep, and I'll talk to her when she wakes up. Oh, and if Cricket calls, tell her she's here working on that project, and I said it was okay if the group stayed for dinner" the woman explained, unsure of how long the teen would sleep, or what state she'd be in when she woke up, and Sharon knew it would be hard for Cricket to deal with alone.

Just as she said this she heard whimpers coming from the other room, and slowly approached the teen, who was now awake again, "hey…"

She just got a blank stare, and a yawn from the brunette girl. She gently rubbed Alexandra's shoulder, "did you sleep good?"

The teen just shrugged, it didn't surprise Sharon, there was something big and scary on the girl's mind and she needed to let it out. She continued to rub the teen's shoulder, now that she had learned the events of the school day from her daughter, she thought she had a better understanding of what happened to Alexandra.

"I know there's a lot of words up there that you're ignorin. It's okay if you wanna tell me somethin" the older woman suggested, she thought that the teen just needed a little push to talk, a reminder that it was okay.

Alexandra took in a shaky breath, "I'm scared…" she mumbled, it was a start, she was truly scared and didn't know what to do anymore. She wanted help, she wanted out, and she just wanted the trapped feeling to go away.

Sharon sat next to her, and placed a gentle hand on the teen's back, "that's okay, I'm here to help you, I just need to know what you're scared of"

"s… som.. somebody… h.. hurt me…." Alexandra stuttered. She was still too afraid of using names, but she figured that slowly telling the truth was better than just shrugging the woman off.

Sharon started rubbing her back, the teen winced when the woman's hand ran across a fresh bruise. Sharon noticed and made a mental note that there were definitely physical injuries. "when did they hurt you hon?" the woman asked.

Alexandra started to shake, she was completely terrified with all the threats she had been given, by her father and now this teacher. She desperately wanted help, wanted someone to let her know she was okay, she knew she had to tell to get these things, "t… today…"

The blond sighed, her daughter's theory made a lot more sense now. "when you were at school?" the woman gently probed.

Alexandra tensed up and nodded. Sharon continued to gently rub her back, being mindful of whatever bruises were there, "you don't have to tell me who, but can you try to tell me what happened?"

The teen took in a shaky deep breath, this was her chance, she finally had an opportunity to reveal her secret that she wanted so desperately to tell, "he… uh… threw me on the desk… and started to… take… my clothes off… and uh… touched me… I really thought he was gonna…" she stumbled over her words the entire time, Sharon didn't push her, and let her take her time telling, knowing that was the best thing to do.

She rubbed the young girl's back as she brought her knees to her chest, and whimpered. "McKinney told me a teacher was arrested, was that who hurt you?"

She just got a nod, and a sob from the young girl. Things made sense now, Alexandra ran from school, she was absolutely terrified, and she just wanted to cry. Sharon wrapped an arm around the teen and Alexandra hesitantly leaned into her, wanting some comfort. The woman rubbed her shoulders, and whispered calming words into the brunette's ear. "hon, I have to ask, and I know you might not want to answer, but did he rape you?"

She shook her head no, she was afraid it was coming, but that other teacher saved her. Sharon sighed in relief, and continued to rub the girl's shoulder. "Sharon…." The teen hesitantly replied.

"yeah hon?" the woman asked.

"this… uh… isn't the first time somebody hurt me" the teen whispered.

"when did it happen before?" the blond asked.

"I…. in LA…" Alexandra replied, unsure of how to tell.

"do you remember what happened?"

The teen nodded into the woman's shoulder and mumbled the same word she told her assistant principal, "dad…" it was all she could say at that point, it was already too much for her.

Sharon was shocked, she didn't think Cricket would be with someone who hurt her daughter, but then she realized that Cricket might not have any idea that it was going on. Although, she did notice the remnants of a black eye covered in too much makeup on Cricket. "what did he do?" she asked, unsure if she even wanted to know, but she knew it was good for Alexandra to tell.

The teen was quiet, she was completely unsure of how to explain the situation to her mom's friend. She just wanted someone to comfort her. Some nights she could barely sleep because of nightmares, but her mom couldn't know. The nap she'd taken at her friend's house helped, but it didn't do much. She snuggled closer to Sharon because she was scared, and just wanted someone to protect her. She finally built up the courage to continue telling what happened, "same thing…" was all she could think of to say.

Sharon's heart broke for the teen, she had to deal with abuse from her father for a long time, it seemed like. She could tell the teen was confused, hurt, terrified and probably felt alone. Sharon wondered if she was the first person to find out about what had happened, but wasn't going to push the girl. She gently rubbed the brunette's back, "you're safe now, everything's gonna be okay" Sharon knew Alexandra needed to hear those words, she knew the feelings of being alone and confused were taking a toll on her and she needed some support.

Alexandra responded by clinging to the woman like her life depended on it. This is when Sharon decided it was going to be a long night. This reaction made her realize that she'd never heard those words, and was soaking them in like it meant everything. Sharon continued to hold the teen and do her best to comfort her.

She knew it was nearing dinner time and she had done nothing to prepare. Alexandra's issues were just a little bit more important at the moment and Zach would understand. Just as this thought crossed her mind the man in question walked through the front door. "honey…" he called.

Alexandra tensed up and whimpered at the sound of the man's voice. Sharon rubbed her back and whispered calming words into the teens ear. "hey…" she quietly replied, hoping her husband would get the hint.

"what's…oh…is everything okay?" the man asked.

The teen was now shaking as the man's voice got louder. Sharon simply shook her head and continued to rub the girl's back. The larger woman motioned for her husband to come a little closer so she could whisper something to him. He obeyed and Sharon explained what she knew, and Zach nodded, and stepped away. He didn't want to scare the teen anymore than she obviously was. Although he knew she needed a man she could trust and he hoped he could help her rebuild some of that trust.

**A/N: wow, long chapter. Hope you guys are still interested. How should Cricket find out? Will Alexandra be willing to talk around Zach, or will she shut him out completely. Please review! **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

Sharon was able to calm the teen enough and she was asleep again, She let her husband cover the brunette teen up with a blanket and they both watched her curl up in it.

The blond woman went to cook something for dinner, but was distracted halfway through by her phone ringing. "Sharon it's Cricket"

"hey, what's up?" Sharon responded, taking some pieces of chicken out of a skillet. She decided to make extra incase Alexandra was hungry when she woke up later.

"have you seen Alexandra?" the brunette woman asked.

Sharon sighed, "yeah, she's here workin with McKinney on that project, I'm lettin her stay for dinner" she had to lie, even though it was wrong, she just couldn't tell the woman her daughter had been sexually assaulted.

Zach eyed her, he knew that wasn't the truth and he knew for Alexandra's sake it would be best to tell Cricket.

"alright, I got a message from the school sayin she wasn't there this afternoon…." The woman said, sounding a little confused.

Sharon sighed again, she knew now was the time to tell the woman. "Cricket, there isn't an easy way to tell you this… but she was sexually assaulted by a teacher…"

"you're kidding me Sharon. What kind of joke is that?" the brunette replied. She needed to be with her daughter, though she was afraid her secret was about to be exposed.

"Cricket, it's not a joke. McKinney told me that a male teacher was arrested today, Alexandra's English teacher…" the woman explains.

"oh god. Is she alright?" the brunette asked, terrified of what could have happened to her young daughter.

"she's sleepin, but I'm not sure how she's really doin, she won't talk much" Sharon replied.

Cricket let out a frustrated sigh, "should I come by to check on her?"

"I was just gonna let her sleep, get her somethin to eat, and then I was gonna see what she wanted to do about tellin you" the blond explained.

"don't bother wakin her up if she's asleep. That won't do much of anything to help her…. is her car there?"

"yeah, she locked her phone in it, that's probably why she wouldn't answer if you tried callin" the blond replied.

Cricket sighed, "alright, just let me know when she wants to come home, I guess… I can come get her or somethin"

"I will. There's somethin else she told me, but I think she should tell you when she's ready" Sharon said, not sure if the accusations the teen made towards her father were true.

"Sharon, you're tellin me my daughter was assaulted, don't go hidin anything else from me" Cricket said, trying to hide the worry in her voice.

Sharon sighed, "why don't you come over, and we can talk to Alexandra together, and figure something out"

"alright. I'll be there soon" the woman said.

The two women hung up and Cricket panicked. She wasn't ready to deal with something like this, she knew it meant they had to get a lawyer, and Alexandra would be put through hell having to talk to them. They had only been in Dallas a few days and already something bad happened, she wished something good would come out of this.

She quickly made her way to her friend's house and Zach let her in, she smiled at the man and tried to hide the anxiety and fear that was consuming her. She saw her sixteen year old curled up in a big blanket sleeping on the couch. She sighed, it was going to be a long night.

Sharon smiled when she saw Cricket, even though she was there because something bad had happened, she tried to be friendly to the woman who had only been there for a little over a week.

Cricket knew her daughter probably wanted to talk to her best friend back in LA, and that she was probably the only person the teen would talk to. Things had been that way close to Mason's death. Alexandra would barely acknowledge Mason and barely said a few words to Cricket, but talked to her best friend.

Alexandra had started to squirm and whimper on the couch so Cricket decided to attempt to comfort the teen. "darlin" she said, placing a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder.

The brunette teen flinched and Cricket sighed. "baby girl it's momma"

Alexandra whimpered again but let out some incomprehensible vowels. Cricket realized that the teen wasn't fully awake, and was just mumbling in her sleep. The woman continued rubbing her daughter's shoulder and the teen settled back into her nap.

A few hours later, Alexandra was still asleep, she had been losing sleep because she was so scared about telling someone what really happened with her dad and now this teacher. She'd gotten some of it off her chest and was able to relax. Sharon was around the house and she decided that the woman didn't want anything bad to happen to her. She had been asleep most of the time she'd been at the woman's house, but it was surprisingly almost nightmare free.

It was nearing ten at night and Zach noticed that the teen hadn't moved much, "I can carry her to your car Cricket, and drive hers over later"

"Zach, with what happened to her today I don't think that's the best idea. If she wakes up she'll freak." Sharon replied, saving Cricket from having to argue.

The man nodded and Cricket knelt down in front of her daughter again and started rubbing her shoulder, "darlin, it's time for momma to take you home"

Alexandra rolled over to face the sound of her mother's voice, "huh…" she mumbled.

Cricket just sighed, "you're at McKinney's house sweetie, you've been sleepin all afternoon. Let's head home" she decided bringing up the day's events would make matters worse and more difficult.

"mmmk" the teen mumbled, but made no moves to get up from the couch. She was still completely cuddled up in the blanket.

"Zach said he could carry you to the car sweetie, I can tell you're tired" the woman suggested even though she knew that the teen would probably refuse the offer.

She shook her head, "my car's here…"

"I know, and we can come get it tomorrow. It'll be just fine here" Cricket replied, trying to reassure the teen that she could trust her mom's friends. She figured the only thing that would happen to the teen's car would be Zach or Sharon moving it to get to their own cars.

Alexandra thought and decided going home wouldn't be such a bad idea, she really wanted a shower. She could feel the dry, rough hands of her English teacher still running up and down her arms and across her chest. She gave in to her mother's suggestions and just nodded.

She glanced across the room and saw McKinney's dad come across the room close to the couch. She tensed up, she didn't know how to tell him she didn't want to be carried out to the car. With her dad there was no fighting back, her mom would hear and find out. She acted the same way with her English teacher because that was just what she knew and thought it was how she was supposed to react. Alexandra thought all men were like her father, that every touch would hurt, and she would be threatened to keep everything they did a secret.

The teen thought she'd heard Sharon say something to Zach to not carry her, she hoped he'd listen. He knelt down next to Cricket and Alexandra clutched the blanket, trying to make herself invisible. "Alexandra, we know you're pretty sleepy, I can carry you to your momma's car…"

Sharon just sighed, but was surprised when she saw the brunette teen reluctantly nod. She thought maybe Alexandra was scared to say no, and was worried the accusations she'd made towards her father were real.

Zach knew that Alexandra was probably scared, so he slowly and gently picked up the brunette teen. Sharon just smiled, he was holding her similar to the way he'd hold McKinney when she was younger. Alexandra was still tense in his arms and was surprised when he told her it was okay, and that she could relax.

He sat the teen in Cricket's grey Mercedes and gave the woman the keys to the black one, so she could get her daughter's things. Cricket just smiled, and thanked Sharon for watching out for her daughter, and got in the car. She didn't want to deal with all of this, even though she'd been married to a lawyer, she stayed out of the legal stuff, and silently wished he was still around to help his daughter through the legal mess they were about to be in.

**A/N: I know it's been a while, I've been busy with summer school. I really want your ideas on what should happen next, I'm willing to use them. **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

Cricket got Alexandra home, and decided that she'd let the teen stay home from school the next day, only if she wanted to. She couldn't believe what had happened to her daughter, and she just prayed that her secret didn't get out as well. She took some Ambien and crawled into bed. She really needed her sleep, she knew the next few days would be long and hard for both her and Alexandra.

The next morning she woke up to find her teenage daughter sitting on the couch in one of her UCLA cheer t-shirts and a pair of jeans, with her black hair up in a tight bun. "hey sweetheart"

The teen sighed, she was playing with a hem on a blanket and focused all of her attention on that. "mornin momma"

"you're up early…" She knew the teen probably couldn't sleep, she never could after Mason did things to her.

"couldn't sleep" the teen sighed, and yawned.

Cricket sat by her, " you know you can stay home today, the school would understand"

"I can't, cheer tryouts are soon and there's an information meeting today…." The brunette yawned.

"baby girl, you're yawnin every five seconds. I'll call the cheer coach and talk to her. you just get some rest" Cricket said, squeezing her shoulder.

Alexandra cuddled into Cricket and yawned again. "I tried to sleep momma…"

Cricket completely understood what her daughter meant, she wondered if one Ambien wouldn't hurt. She shook that thought aside, she knew giving her daughter the medicine wouldn't be a good idea, and just held the teen. "I know baby, but momma's here now, so just sleep"

Alexandra curled up against her mother and was asleep within minutes. She sighed, she knew she needed to stay home with her daughter today but she also had a lot to get done at work. Her father had a lot for her to do and she wanted to get as much done as she could.

Cricket gently moved the sleeping teen so she was on the couch and covered up. She first called the school and told them that she'd be keeping Alexandra home, and explained to the principal that she would be calling a lawyer that day and working to press charges against the teacher. The woman explained to Cricket that they wanted Alexandra to meet with the counselor a few times a week to help her cope with what happened. Cricket just sighed and agreed, she was afraid if she declined or acted like there was something to hide, they'd figure out that worse things had been going on.

The woman explained that Alexandra had ran from the school the previous afternoon and normally would be given detention for something like that. Cricket reminded the woman that her daughter didn't need such punishment and the principal agreed and would let it slide, this one time. Cricket didn't have much to worry about, once her daughter was back on the cheer squad, she'd have friends and a coach to help her through difficult days and she wouldn't have to run from school.

She called Sharon next, she had to run into the office and didn't want to leave Alexandra alone. The blond woman agreed to come watch Alexandra so Cricket could do some things she needed. Cricket thanked Sharon once she arrived and left for the office.

Blake was waiting for her in her office once she got there and he could tell she had already had a long day. "hey" he smiled.

"I know, I'm late, don't kill me" she sighed.

"whoa, Cricket, calm down. I didn't even say anything about that" he said, smiling.

She sighed and dropped her purse on the desk, "sorry… "

"don't worry about it. I just wanted to remind you that your daddy's comin in today again" he said, he noticed that she was tense and looked worried.

She sighed, that was the last thing she needed to deal with, although she thought he could get her a good lawyer.

Before she could say anything the man walked into the room, "Hey Cricket… Mr. Reilly…"

Blake smiled at Cricket's father and gave the two some time alone. The older man smiled at his daughter, "how are things goin?"

Cricket sighed, she didn't know if she should tell him right away. But she needed a lawyer, and fast. "I need a lawyer…"

Her father sighed, "why? so you can change your name back to Caruth?"

"I'll get to that later. But this is serious daddy, just tell me who your lawyer is" she said, sounding angry. Changing her name had been on her to do list, but got pushed to the bottom when Alexandra was hurt.

"well tell me if you need a corporate lawyer, or if I need to call the family lawyer" the man said, sighing when he sensed the stress in his daughter's voice.

"just gimme the number of the family lawyer. Let me handle this" she replied, hoping he wouldn't dig too deep.

"this better be good if you're tellin me to call the family lawyer" he said, sighing and reaching for his phone to find the man's number.

"it is, it's just somethin I wanna keep as quiet as possible and I need the lawyer fast" she said, hoping she'd be able to talk to him before the end of the week.

The man sighed, and gave his daughter the number on a sticky note from her desk and made sure she knew if she needed money he'd help her out. She thanked her dad and he left. She looked at the number written on the blue paper and sighed, she didn't want to put her daughter through this torture but knew for things to get better she had to.

She ripped the sticky note off the large pad and stuck it in her purse. She let Blake know she had to run a quick errand and would be back within an hour or so. She got in her car and made the phone call. She had a meeting set up with Alexandra and the lawyer the next afternoon, and hoped things would go smoothly. She couldn't go back into work yet, she needed to compose herself before she broke down in her office. She backed out of the parking lot and somehow found herself sitting in the church parking lot about half an hour later.

She just sighed, she turned off her car and went up to the doors, yanked one open and found herself in a back pew, near her breaking point. She'd almost spilled her darkest secret to her father of all people, and didn't know how much longer it would stay a secret. She cursed herself when she felt something wet dripping down her cheek, she'd started to cry. She tried to stop herself from crying but it just wouldn't happen. She just wanted out, she wanted to feel loved and wanted again.

She felt her phone ringing in her purse but chose to ignore it. She didn't want anyone to know she'd been crying. To be honest she hated the fact that her last name was still Massey, she wanted that changed fast because it helped her remember everything that had happened.

Pastor Tudor was leaving his office to go get lunch, when he heard the sound of a woman's tears coming from the church. He didn't expect anyone to be there at that time since most of the members were working. He opened the big door and sighed when he saw Cricket sitting there, sobbing. She looked so broken, and he knew that something was definitely wrong.

He slowly approached her and sat down by her, "Cricket…"

She jumped, she thought she was alone, but now someone knew she'd been crying. She never cried in front of anyone. She hung her head and sighed, "I'm okay. I'm just gonna leave now."

"why don't you stay and calm down, I won't say anything, just pull yourself back together" the man suggested.

She took a few deep breaths and sighed again. "sorry… I'm obviously a mess"

"do you wanna tell me what's going on?" he asked. He knew about her husband's death but he thought there could be more than just that on the woman's mind.

Cricket's shoulder's dropped. She debated on whether the man should be the one to find out her secret. "I'm fine… just stressed. It's nothing" she just couldn't bring herself to talk about it, especially not in a church.

The pastor sighed, "I'm here to help ya, is there anything I can do?"

Cricket sighed, "can ya keep a secret?" she just had to tell, she couldn't keep things bottled in any longer, they were eating her alive and she wanted it to stop.

"sure, whatever you say to me right now, I won't repeat" the man calmly replied, he was really worried about Cricket, she'd been pretty quiet and reserved for the most part since she'd been there, and he was afraid something was wrong.

She took in a deep breath, "I just had to call our lawyer, my daughter was sexually assaulted by a teacher. She's terrified, she wants to try out for cheerleading, but I just hope that what happened with the teacher doesn't screw that up" it felt good to get it off her chest, and she felt drained, she didn't think she wanted to go back to work that day.

Pastor Tudor sighed, that was the worst thing that could happen to a kid at school, and it had to happen to her daughter. "it'll get better, how is Alexandra?"

Cricket sighed, "she's not doing that great, it only happened yesterday. She didn't sleep last night, and she isn't talking much"

Pastor Tudor thought about how he could help Cricket, he thought that maybe she just needed someone to comfort her and guide her through this, it certainly wasn't something she should do alone. "does she have anyone she feels like she can talk to?"

Cricket had to think, the only people who she knew her daughter was comfortable talking to were back in LA, her old cheer coach, and her best friend. "not here…."

They'd only been in Dallas for about a week or so and he realized that all of the teen's friends and people she trusted were back in LA. "I could get you some information about a few support groups that might help her"

She sighed, "the school wants her to see the counselor twice a week, I don't think she'll like a support group"

"alright, but I'm gonna give you the information anyways, and I'm always here if either of you need to talk." He said, smiling at her.

She gave him a small smile, he went to get her the information, and she slumped down in the pew. She grabbed her phone, and saw the missed call was from Sharon, she hoped her daughter was okay. Pastor Tudor came back and she thanked him. She walked out of the church and into the restroom, she tried to make herself look like she hadn't been crying, but retouching eyeliner did nothing for her to hide the puffiness in her eyes.

She didn't care anymore if Blake saw her, she wanted to be loved, she needed to feel like someone wanted her, and she realized the only way for her to do that was to let him in. She just hoped her fears wouldn't get in the way.

**A/N: I hope you guys like this story! Please let me know what you think! **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

**CARUTH INDUSTRIES **

**CRICKET'S OFFICE**

Cricket had composed herself again, or so she thought, and made her way back to her office. Once she sat down at her desk, she looked at the missed call on her phone again and decided to call the blond back.

"hey Cricket!" the blond answered, sounding too excited.

"hey Sharon, how's Alexandra?" the brunette asked, she really hoped her daughter was okay.

"she's alright, she slept for a couple hours, I'm just makin her somethin to eat" the woman explained, Alexandra was being very quiet and had built up new walls because of the recent attack.

"okay. I wish I didn't have to come into work today, but I just couldn't get out of it" Cricket said, sighing.

"don't worry, she's doing fine" Sharon reassured the woman.

"alright, now, why exactly did ya call me earlier?" Cricket asked, she knew there had to be something the woman wanted to talk about.

"oh, I just got the church newsletter in my email, and there's this singles group that I think would be great for you to go to" the woman happily explained, Cricket was not excited at all, the last thing she wanted to worry about was meeting new men, especially after just getting out of an abusive relationship that no one knew about.

"Sharon, I really don't want to do something like that right now" Cricket told the woman, she just couldn't handle the possibility of her secret getting out.

"Come on, it'll be fun, Blake will be there, I saw you eyein him at the service last week" Sharon insists, she's starting to get on Cricket's nerves and Cricket just doesn't want to deal with her after her near breakdown on Pastor Tudor.

"Sharon, I'm not going. I need to focus on Alexandra right now" she says, she's not sure how well the meeting with the lawyer will go and if she'd need to be home with her daughter for a day or two after.

The woman sighed, "let me know if you change your mind, it could be good for you"

"whatever Sharon, I'll call when I leave work" the brunette replied, and hung up the phone.

Cricket sighed, she was really starting to like Blake and was considering going to the singles thing at the church. She wasn't sure if it was something she wanted to do though, she wanted to be there and support her daughter. Things just didn't seem to be going as smoothly as she wanted them to.

She got through her day without any more distractions and she was finally glad to be home. She smiled when she saw her daughter still curled up on the couch wearing what she had on that morning, and she looked exhausted.

"hey sweetie" she said, kicking off her heels and hanging her purse on a chair.

Alexandra got up, and hugged her mom, "hey momma"

"how was your day?" the woman asked, sitting next to her daughter, she needed to explain that they would be meeting with a lawyer about pressing charges on her teacher.

"fine…." the teen replied, leaning back on the couch.

"sweetie, I called a lawyer, I want you to meet with them about what happened and it would be best if we pressed charges against your teacher so he can get in trouble for what he did" Cricket explained, watching her daughter's facial expression change.

Alexandra started to shake her head no, she couldn't talk to a lawyer, they'd want her to go to the doctor, and the doctor would notice that she'd been hurt before. it just wasn't going to work. "I can't…."

Cricket gave her daughter's shoulder a gentle squeeze, "hon, it'll make sure he stays in jail and no one else gets hurt"

Alexandra sighed, she just didn't think she could do this. Sharon was in the kitchen, but heard part of this conversation and knew it wasn't going to go how Cricket had hoped. The blond woman came in and sat down on the other side of Alexandra, "if you report this, there might be other girls that come forward because they know he's been caught"

The teen just looked at her, she was unsure of what to say, and she wasn't even sure that there were other girls that this man had done things to.

Sharon noticed that Alexandra was a little confused and smiled, "you can be brave and report him. If he's hurt any other girls they'll see that it's okay to come forward and report it as well"

The teen sighed, and glanced at her mom, who was smiling at her. "fine. I'll meet with the lawyer, but you guys can't tell anyone about this"

Cricket sighed in relief, she wondered how this conversation would have gone if she didn't have Sharon to convince the teen to press charges. She just wished she'd had a friend like Sharon in California to convince her to report the things that Mason had done to her.

"I won't sweetheart, but it is grandpa's lawyer, so he might know. But he's family, so that's okay" Cricket explained.

The teen pouted, "no one else. If you keep tellin people I won't do it"

"I promise that me, Sharon and my daddy are the only ones that know" she reassured the teen.

She couldn't tell her daughter about Pastor Tudor, at least not yet. But Cricket did feel better after getting some of it off her chest. She wondered how she would feel if she told someone about Mason. The thought got pushed away when Sharon mentioned that she had made something for dinner and Cricket was relieved that she didn't have to cook.

Sharon left Cricket and Alexandra alone and smiled, she really hoped her plan to set up Cricket and Blake would work. She knew Blake would be really good for Cricket and Alexandra.

The night went by smoothly for both Cricket and Alexandra, Cricket was finally getting some sleep, even if it was because she had the pills. The meeting with the lawyer went better than Cricket had expected, she was proud of Alexandra for holding it together as well as she did while explaining the situation. Cricket made sure her daughter knew that she was proud of her, since it was something her own father never did, and it hurt more sometimes than Mason's abuse did.

A few days later Cricket got a message from Sharon reminding her about the singles night at the church. She reluctantly agreed to go because she knew she'd never hear the end of it if she didn't. She decided it couldn't be too bad.

Later that night she parked her car in front of the church and sighed. She thought this was a waste of time, but since Alexandra was with some of the cheerleaders, she decided she might as well show up. She got out, and as soon as she walked in the church she saw Blake. He looked better than he had the last couple of days, but maybe that was because she was actually noticing him.

She shook the thoughts from her mind, he wasn't interested in her. She sat in one of the rooms and listened to Carlene babble on about how sinful it was to be single. She tried to act like she was paying attention but she just couldn't. A few minutes later Ripp pushed a box to the front of the room and pulled out a piñata, and she rolled her eyes. She couldn't figure out what they were going to be doing with them, and she thought whatever it was would be absolutely ridiculous.

Ripp noticed the pained expression on Cricket's face and knew this could possibly be a good time to get some information out of the woman, since her husband had stolen some money from him. He thought that there was a possibility that she'd write something about that when she did her piñata and he'd be able to figure everything out.

Cricket just chuckled as Carlene explained what they were doing with the piñatas, and played along with the game. She felt a little self conscious writing the things that Mason had done to her, partly because she was afraid that someone would look over her shoulder and read them. Sure enough, that fear turned into reality when Ripp sat down next to her. she quickly crumpled up a piece of paper that she regretted writing on and stuffed it in her piñata. "hey Cricket"

She sighed, "hey"

"how're you doin?" the man asked, he knew she'd just lost her husband, and that couldn't be easy on anyone. He had no idea about any of the things that he'd done to her

"I'm fine" she lied, she was no where near fine and it would take her a long time to get that way. She did not want to talk to Ripp, and wished she could get up and run off, but that would make things look worse than they really were.

She was lucky when apparently Carlene had snuck off and pulled the fire alarm. She was beginning to freak out because she'd only grabbed her purse, and totally forgotten about the piñata. She just hoped Ripp, or anyone else for that matter didn't get ahold of the thing.

Her secret was technically out and she actually felt better after writing those things and stuffing the piñata, she just wished she'd actually got to smack it around a few times, since he'd done that to her so much she lost count.

She was leaning up against the fire truck and was startled when Blake came up to her. "hey" he said, smiling.

She just sighed, she tried so hard not to act freaked out or worried, but she knew she was failing. "hey"

"it was just a false alarm… Carlene got a little freaked over some candles or something" Blake told her, trying to make her laugh.

She gave him a small smile, "well that's good to know. I really think I'm gonna head home…"

He smiled, and walked with her to her car. He was a little surprised that she'd chosen the grey Mercedes, but he was happy that she was actually driving it. He wanted her in something that was good, and would work well for a long time, so it was one less thing for her to worry about.

She felt a little uncomfortable with his closeness and opened the door to her car. "I really should get going…."

Blake sighed, he noticed she was starting to get uncomfortable and he made sure she got in her car and shut the door for her. He remembered that Sharon had mentioned something about the piñatas, and he was going to find Cricket's to figure out what happened between her and Mason so he could help her. It was part of Sharon's plan and so far things were working. He just hoped Cricket would be willing to open up about what had really happened, and that she would let them help her.

**A/N: Sorry about the wait guys, I'm finally finished with summer school, so I have some more time to write, and because of that, this chapter is finished! Tell me what you think, and let me know what you want to happen! **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

**HILLSIDE PARK MEMORIAL CHURCH**

Ripp and Carlene went back inside the room to clean up after everyone had left and Ripp noticed that all of the piñatas had been left. He forced himself to remember where Cricket had been sitting and made a note of which one was hers.

He grabbed the piñata before Carlene could throw it away and she went up to him when she noticed him holding one. "who's is that?" she asked.

"Cricket's, I wanna find out where that money went, I bet she knows and it could be in here." He tells her.

"I doubt she even knows. And I'm pretty sure she doesn't want you readin what's in there" she replies.

"I'm still takin this thing, she seemed pretty upset so I wanna know what's goin on" he told her, he was worried about Cricket, she seemed to zone out a lot and looked upset the whole time she was writing.

"alright, fine. but you can't tell anyone." Carlene sighed.

Later that night Ripp sat on his bed and started going through Cricket's piñata. He was shocked and became even more concerned by what he read. Carlene sat by him, "well, what've we got?"

He sighed, and read the first slip of paper, _'he's drunk again, and he won't stop hitting me.' _

Carlene gave her husband a worried look, "do they all say that?"

He unfolded another slip of paper, _'he won't stop touching me, he's on top of me now, but I can't scream or Alexandra will hear' _

"Ripp, I think he abused her" the tiny blond woman said, sighing.

"I do to. but she can't know we know this. All of these say something he's done to hurt her, nothing about money" the man replied.

Carlene picked up a slip of paper, _'he's out of town finally, but I can't sleep and all I see is him hitting me and him on top of me' _

Ripp sighed as they continued to read the horrible things Cricket had written. "she's not makin this stuff up I could tell when I tried to talk to her earlier, she was jumpy, and seemed upset"

Carlene felt bad for her friend, she'd gone through a lot and needed someone to help her through it. "Ripp, this one basically says he raped her"

The man sighed, Cricket was tortured by Mason. And he wasn't sure if there was anything they could do to help her, since she'd be freaked out they knew. "that's not the only one kitten, and half of these say he was drunk."

She sighed, "what are we gonna do? I know the man's dead but Cricket needs some help"

"well the FBI already knows he's a thief, I wouldn't be surprised if they find out he smacked his wife around" Ripp said.

"she's probably too scared to say anything. Maybe we should say somethin to Pastor Tudor…" the blond suggested.

"I'll call him in the morning. We can't let Cricket go through this alone." He said, he really was concerned about his wife's friend. He would never do something like that to Carlene, and it made more sense to him as to why Cricket was so jumpy when he tried to talk to her.

"okay, just make sure she doesn't find out it was us who talked to him" Carlene replied, sighing. She was really worried about her friend now. Was she sleeping? Was she eating? Was she struggling to just get through a normal day? Carlene hoped to soon find out the answers to her questions.

Ripp nodded, and pushed the papers and the piñata to the floor. He wrapped an arm around his tiny wife and kissed her, "you'll never have to say that stuff about me sweetie"

She nestled into his side and smiled, "I know that. Ya know, Sharon told me that she thinks Cricket's been eyein Blake. She convinced Cricket to go to the singles thing cuz he was there"

Ripp squeezed his wife's shoulder and smiled, "I'll talk to Blake. See if he can get Cricket to open up"

Carlene nodded and snuggled close to her husband, and fell into a peaceful sleep.

The next morning Ripp left his sleeping wife curled up in bed and went to talk to Pastor Tudor. He grabbed the slips of paper from the piñata so he would have something to show the man.

The young man let Ripp into his office, "what can I do for ya?"

"I'm really worried about somebody who came to the thing last night, the things she wrote in her piñata didn't sit well with me" Ripp explained. He wasn't going to tell the pastor right away it was Cricket, incase the woman was already talking to him about this.

"what do they say?" the pastor asked, it wasn't often that Ripp came to him worried about someone so he knew that things were bad.

Ripp handed the man the stack of papers and sat in one of the chairs while the man read them. "Ripp, whoever this is was abused, and she needs some help"

"I know, that's why I brought them to you. Maybe you could just say something on Sunday to encourage whoever it is to tell someone what's been going on…" Ripp suggested, he didn't want to ask the man to talk to Cricket. He felt like that would just make things worse.

"I could do that. Are you sure she goes to church here?" the man asked, starting to dig through files to see what he could come up with.

"yeah, I know she does. I've seen her at the service a couple times." Ripp answered, trying not to give away the fact that it was Cricket.

"alright. I'll come up with something." Pastor Tudor said, smiling and putting a paper clip on the slips of paper Ripp had given him.

The taller man smiled and thanked the pastor. He walked out of the office and sent a text to his wife saying things were taken care of.

His next order of business was a phone call to Blake Reilly. He knew that Cricket worked with him and he wanted to know how she was doing. The man answered the phone, "hey Ripp…"

"hey, do you have a minute?" the taller man asked, hoping that he could tell Blake he was concerned about Cricket.

"yeah, why" Blake replied, it wasn't every day Ripp called him so he knew something was up.

"I'm worried about Cricket, Carlene and I went through some stuff she wrote in the piñata last night, and it's not good" the man explained.

Blake was surprised that Ripp would do what he did, but from what he'd heard, Mason was a thief, and a cheat. "what'd she say?"

Ripp sighed, "Blake, she basically said he abused her. but don't say a word about this to her, she can't know that we know"

Cricket's behaviors made a lot more sense to Blake now, she tried to avoid him and wouldn't let him get too close. "I thought something wasn't right. I didn't think it was that"

"I talked to Pastor Tudor, he's gonna say something on Sunday to try to encourage her to tell, without making it obvious that we know." Ripp explained, he really hoped Cricket would see that they're trying to help her.

"she probably won't tell, but I'll talk to her. she seemed pretty shaken up after the other night, she didn't want to talk to me" Blake explained.

"I think she likes you, Sharon said somethin to Carlene. But don't take my word for it" Ripp told him, he thought that if Blake knew that Cricket liked him, it might make things easier.

"that could be true, but I can't even get her to smile" Blake explained. He knew things were bad if Cricket didn't even want to smile at a simple joke.

"I didn't think things were that bad, but we're gonna try to get her some help" the older man explained.

"alright, I'll talk to her. at least now I know what's botherin her so I can try to help her" Blake replied, hoping his friend would let him in.

"okay, let me know what you find out" Ripp told him, before they hung up the phone.

Blake sighed, things just made a lot more sense. Cricket was so jumpy and tried to hide her fear when she was around the other men in the office. She wouldn't let anyone stand near her and she hated being touched. He hoped to help her see that he wasn't going to be anything like Mason, and that he wouldn't do anything she didn't want him to.

He walked to her office, and found her fidgeting with the cap of her pen as she was reading something on the computer. He quietly knocked on her door, so he didn't startle her, but she jumped anyway and just let him in. "Hey Cricket"

She didn't look towards the male voice, and just sighed, "hey"

"how're things goin?" he asked, he just wanted to check on her.

"Alexandra's fine. I'm fine. there's nothin to worry about." She replied, it sounded almost automatic and he knew it wasn't the best response she could give. He saw that she was struggling to hang on and was close to falling apart.

He took a few steps so that he was further in her office, "what did you think of the singles thing the other night?" He figured that asking her about that wouldn't make it obvious that he was concerned about the abuse.

"it was fine" she replied, she knew short answers usually worked best in these situations because they gave away the least amount of information. She then remembered that she told herself that it was okay to open up to Blake, or at least she thought it was. She was just way too scared to try, since she felt so alone in LA.

Blake gave her a small smile, he could see the slight confusion she was struggling to hide, and her fidgeting had skyrocketed. She was so nervous just having him in the room it made him worry. "take a deep breath, and put your pen down" he calmly said to her.

She sighed but took a very shaky deep breath and the pen nearly fell to the floor when she sat it down. she didn't know he was trying to calm her and it scared her because he was telling her what to do. "don't….." she mumbled, before she even realized what she was saying.

Blake barely caught the quiet word that the woman mumbled and sighed, he realized she had no clue that he was going to help her. "what don't you want me to do Cricket?" he asked, he thought maybe this was a good way to finally get some information from her.

She hung her head, and the pen went right back in her hands, and she started twisting the cap around. Blake knew it would be difficult to keep the pen out of her hands so he let her fiddle with it. "touch….. me" she mumbled. She just wasn't ready for someone else to touch her, she never thought she would be.

Blake's hands stayed still in his lap, although he wanted to get up and wrap the woman in a hug to help her settle down. "I won't until you're ready, but I do want to talk, and you can decide when we stop"

"there's nothing to talk about" she quietly told him, she thought that telling him not to touch her was enough, she wasn't sure what else to say.

"why don't you try to tell me how you're feeling" Blake suggested, he thought maybe getting her to recognize her feelings would be a good start in helping her heal.

She really didn't know, it had been so long since someone had asked her that question she wasn't sure what to tell him. Would it be okay to cry, scream, or to hit something? She didn't do either one of these things, even though she really wanted to do all three. She wanted someone else to feel what she was feeling, even though it was something she couldn't put a name to. This was the one question she never knew how to answer, even when she was younger. She didn't know what kind of responses would be okay, since so many times Mason was hurtful when she answered him.

She just shrugged her shoulders, silently hoping that Blake would pick up on the fact that she was confused, and just overwhelmed with her feelings. It startled her when she got a smile in return, by now she would have been slapped and thrown around like a stuffed animal for not answering.

Blake noticed she was struggling to answer his question and he sighed, trying to keep from showing any hints of anger or frustration, he didn't want to push her away any more than she was distancing herself. "it's okay if you don't know, it can be something you let me help you with"

She was still at a loss for words, but she thought maybe having someone to help her with her feelings would help her feel better. She just nodded and continued to fiddle with her pen. She noticed Blake smiled and she thought that maybe she'd done something right, but she wasn't sure. She did know that his niceness wasn't going to last long, since Mason was nice in the beginning, she thought all men were that way.

**A/N: Sorry about the wait guys. I hope you're still interested! As you can probably tell Cricket's struggling with the idea of letting someone help her, but she's been through too much to just let her guard down at once. It will take her a while, but eventually it will happen. If you have any ideas, please feel free to review! **


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

**CARUTH INDUSTRIES **

**CRICKET'S OFFICE**

Cricket was not happy after she'd talked to Blake. She nearly blew it. She was trying so hard to hide her secret but it just wasn't working as good as it was. After Blake asked her how she was feeling she almost lost it. she felt horrible, she was still hurting physically and it didn't help that she couldn't sleep without the horrible images of his abuse haunting her.

She couldn't stop thinking about it and all she wanted was for the images to go away. Her phone on her desk started ringing and she didn't want anything to do with anyone else at that time so she lost it and shoved the phone off her desk. She continued shoving things off her desk, the big calendar, a picture frame that had a picture of Alexandra in it, her keyboard, her pencil holder, that just so happened to be glass, and a big stack of papers fell to the floor when she angrily slapped them with the side of her hand.

She was lucky her door was closed but she didn't realize that other people could hear the breaking glass of the picture frame and the pencil holder when they fell to the floor. She was terrified that someone would come in and see the mess that she created. She just didn't want anyone to come near her and Blake had gotten too close for her comfort.

She was so scared that she hid under her desk, she was shaking and struggling not to cry, she kept telling herself no one would come in. little did she know that it was her father calling her wanting to know if she wanted to have lunch with him. he was concerned when she didn't answer so he decided to drive over to the office and check on her.

He got there and Blake told him that he was a little worried about her, and filled him in on the conversation they had earlier that day. Clint sighed, he really hoped his daughter was okay.

He walked over to Cricket's office and realized that the door was shut tight and he could hear what he thought were sobs coming from the inside. He was really concerned and gently knocked on her door. Cricket was terrified when she heard the light knocking at her door. she didn't want to answer in fear that someone would see the mess she created. She thought about scrambling to clean up but decided against it and just kept crying under her desk.

When Clint got no response from his daughter he slowly pushed the door open and sighed, her office was a mess. "Cricket, it's daddy…"

She wanted to scream, who called her dad. She couldn't hold in the loud scream any longer and let it out. She was so embarrassed that the whole office heard her scream. Clint shooed away some of the concerned ladies that worked there as well and told them that Cricket was his daughter and he'd take care of it.

His heart broke for his daughter when he saw the broken glass and other things from her desk on the floor. He wasn't quiet sure what caused his daughter to lose it like she did and he hoped that someone didn't try to hurt her. he motioned for the secretary to come closer to the door, "who was the last person to leave her office?"

The woman sighed when she saw the mess, "Blake. he told me he's been worried about her, I think he was just checkin in on her"

Clint sighed in relief, but at the same time he was concerned that Blake had said something to trigger this kind of reaction from his daughter. "thanks, I've got her. just try to keep people outta here"

She nodded and went back to her desk. Clint stepped further into Cricket's office and closed the door, "Crick, I'm the only one in here, I promise"

Little did he know that the way he said that terrified her. she didn't want him to hurt her like Mason did. She hated herself for being scared of her own father but she tried hiding it the best she could. "go away" she mumbled.

He sighed when he realized she was hiding under her desk. "I won't touch you, I'll stand right here where I am. Just try talkin to me, alright" he thought that maybe she was scared of someone hurting her.

"NO" she sobbed. He wanted to hold his daughter and comfort her but he decided that it wasn't the best idea at that point in time. 

He sighed, "sweetie, I won't tell anybody what you say. I just wanna make sure you're not hurtin"

She was still really scared, and in pain. She just wanted everything to go away but knew it wasn't going to happen anytime soon. she continued to whimper and she thought she wanted her dad to get a little bit closer to her. "I can't tell…."

"why can't you tell hon?" he asked her.

"I just can't…. okay" she whimpered. Mason had threatened her more than once and even though he was dead she was afraid the threats still stood.

Clint decided he needed to get closer to his daughter to show her he wasn't going to do anything bad. He walked closer to her desk, and slowly pushed the chair out of the way. She looked like a little puppy that had been tortured, and was trying so hard to hide. "it's just me Crick, it's daddy" he reminded her, he hoped she realized who was in her office trying to help her, but he wasn't so sure that she did.

She was still shaking and whimpering when he knelt down so he was at her eye level, "why are you here?"

"I wanted to take you to get some lunch, but when you didn't answer the phone I was a little worried" he explained. It was the truth, he just wanted to make sure his daughter was getting enough to eat. he knew it was hard losing someone you loved, but he didn't know that the man that his daughter was married to was abusive.

She had ignored the fact that she was starving for the last few hours and it didn't hit her until her dad mentioned lunch. She didn't want to go out looking like she did but if it was with her father she thought it might be okay. "t… that was you that called?"

He sighed, he felt bad that he could have been the reason for his daughter's breakdown. "yeah, did I scare you?"

She wasn't sure what exactly caused her to lose it. So she just shrugged, "dunno"

He hated seeing his grown daughter act so vulnerable but now that he knew she was struggling and still hurting, he could get her some help. "why don't you come on out from under there, you don't have to hide." He told her, he could tell she wasn't comfortable. He thought it might be best to take his daughter home for the rest of the day.

She hesitated for a minute but slowly crawled towards her father. He smiled and he let her decide how close to get to him. He encouraged her to come a little closer when she hesitated and she did, but was really slow. His phone started to ring but he ignored it, his terrified daughter was more important than a business call.

She pulled back at the sound of the phone because she knew from the past that he would take it and ignore her. He sat still to show her that he wasn't going to take the call and he wasn't going to do anything that would hurt her. She was still startled by the sudden noise of the phone but he encouraged her once again to come closer. "it's alright Crick, I won't hurt you"

She leaned her head on her dad's shoulder and cried. That was all she wanted to do and it was the only way she knew to get him to realize her pain. He put a gentle hand on her shoulder and started trying to calm her. she was a little confused as to why he was doing this, since he hardly tried when she was younger.

"promise?" she asked, she hated sounding like she was five, but she didn't trust anyone, not her father, or Blake, or any of the other people she worked with. Mason broke her trust completely and it would take her a really long time to gain it back.

He just smiled, even though he wasn't sure if she saw him, "I promise sweetie. Do you think you could try tellin me what made you wanna do this?"

Cricket tensed up and shook her head. She couldn't tell her father that her husband tortured her. "I can't" She didn't know that she needed to tell him what was wrong so he could help her. she just knew that from the past he didn't really care when she was upset, and she didn't understand why this time was different.

Clint gently rubbed his daughter's shoulder, "why can't you tell me? If I know what's makin you upset and scared, and maybe I can help ya"

Cricket didn't understand how her dad could help her, Mason was dead and there was nothing he could do about the way he hurt her. "I…. I just can't" she told him. She started to say that Mason had hurt her but she changed her mind.

"sure ya can, somethin's gotta be botherin ya" he said, he realized that in the past he hadn't exactly been one to listen to her but he knew something was really getting to her and she needed help.

She took a shaky deep breath and decided it was time for someone to know. She wasn't too sure how many people had picked up on the fact that she was acting so different "I…. dunno where to start" she sadly said, she wasn't sure what to explain, or how.

"start where you want hon, it's okay" he calmly told her, he wasn't too sure what she was struggling to tell him but he wanted to make it easier for her to tell what was on her mind.

"M….Mason…" was all she could mumble before the tears took over and she curled into a ball away from him.

He sighed, he knew his daughter had to be grieving but by the way she was acting something else was bothering her. "what about Mason upsets ya?"

Cricket continued to cry, but she forced herself to talk. She thought that her dad might be able to make things better for her. She took a shaky deep breath and struggled to come up with a way to tell him, she wasn't exactly sure what all counted as abuse, she knew married couples had sex, so she was going to leave out the times that Mason forced himself on her when he was drunk. "he…. Hurt me…."

Clint started to understand why his daughter had been so distant and was acting the way she was, her husband was no where near friendly or loving. It also made sense to him why she was so jumpy. "what did he do to hurt you sweetie?"

She hesitantly sighed, she wasn't sure if she wanted to go this far, but she did anyways. Part of her hated that she was spilling everything to him but she just couldn't hold it in any longer. "he got drunk a lot… and he got mad when he lost a case. He took it out on me. He hit me…"

Clint sighed, he felt so bad for his daughter. He wasn't sure how bad things were for her back in LA and he should have checked in on her more, he might have been able to get her out of the situation a lot sooner. He continued rubbing her back, "I'm sorry hon, why don't I take ya home and I'll clean this mess up later"

"no, I'll clean it up" she insisted.

"there's broken glass everywhere, I don't want ya gettin hurt. It's alright" he reassured her.

She just sighed, there was no point in arguing because she was afraid of getting hurt. She nodded in agreement and her dad smiled, "I'm gonna help you up, just take it easy."

She nodded again and slowly got up with her dad's help. She sighed when she saw the mess she'd created and felt like a little kid. Clint kept rubbing her back, to help her relax but she was still so tense she didn't realize he was trying to help.

He helped her out of the office and into his truck. He reassured her he'd come get her car later or have Blake bring it by. She just sat there, ignoring him on the whole way home, and stared out the window at the highway.

**A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Finally Cricket's starting to admit what's been on her mind. The next couple chapters will finally show what has happened to Cricket, and Alexandra. Please let me know if you have any ideas. **


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

**THE NEXT MORNING **

**CRICKET'S HOUSE **

Clint had stayed the night to keep an eye on his daughter, and granddaughter. He hadn't really gotten to know Alexandra all that well but he could tell she was struggling with this just as much as Cricket was.

he knew it was time for the teen to get ready for school so he went up to wake her. he found her tossing and turning in bed and sighed, he did know that her teacher had hurt her about a week ago and she was probably struggling with that as well.

He gently put his hand on her shoulder and smiled, "Alexandra, it's time to get up"

She whimpered and moaned, "nooo"

He sighed, he had the same argument with his daughter about an hour earlier but had let her win and continue sleeping. "it's time for school, Alexandra"

She whimpered again, "don't wanna go"

"why not?" he asked, he thought maybe Alexandra wouldn't be so shut off like Cricket was and would actually talk to him.

She pulled the sheet up over her head, she was trying not to be scared because she knew it was her grandpa, but it just wasn't working. "scared…"she whimpered.

He sighed, that was more than he got from Cricket. His daughter couldn't tell him how she was feeling, but told him what she did the day before was stupid and she wasn't going to work. He sat on the end of the bed, "why are you scared?"

Today was the day that she found out if she made the cheer team. Normally she would be excited and just a little nervous to go to school on days like today, but since it was a new school, and her teacher had hurt her so soon after she had started going there, she was so scared. "dunno"

He continued rubbing her back, "you can tell me kiddo, I wanna help ya"

She sighed, he had woken her up from a nightmare. and she had been struggling to fall asleep again since about two in the morning. "c….couldn't sleep"

"what kept ya up hon?" he asked, he noticed the sleeping pills in his daughter's bedroom but wasn't sure how well Alexandra was sleeping.

She whimpered, he had a feeling that Cricket was having bad dreams and he thought it could be possible that Alexandra was too. The teen thought for a moment and sighed, she knew her grandpa got the lawyer to get her teacher in trouble so she knew he wanted to help her. What he didn't know was that her father hurt her in the same way. She wanted the memories to leave her alone and she just wanted to be a normal teen. A few tears pricked her eyes, "this dream…" she wasn't sure if her dreams were normal or not, so she wasn't sure what to tell him.

"what happened?" he asked, glancing at his watch. He knew the teen wouldn't be on time to school and he thought it might be best for her to stay home too.

She sighed, "it's…. what happened at school with that teacher…."

It was the same kind of dreams that Cricket was having, but Alexandra's were because of something completely different. He sighed, he wished he could do more to help his daughter, and granddaughter. He gently squeezed her shoulder, and he got the same reaction that he did from Cricket. She jumped at the touch and looked away. "he can't do anything to ya anymore, I got it all sorted out with the lawyer"

The teen relaxed, but it wasn't enough. Her dad had still done things to her that no one knew about. She was contemplating telling her grandpa but she knew it would create more drama that wasn't needed. She just stuffed those memories in the back of her mind and failed to hide a yawn. "I should go to school, they announce the cheer team today"

He sighed, "why don't ya stay home and rest today, your momma's still in bed. I'll call the school and tell em you're not feelin that great"

"I just can't. I really should go to school" she scrambled to find an outfit realizing what time it was and locked herself in the bathroom to change. In less than ten minutes she was out the door with her bag and her keys. She didn't eat breakfast but that wasn't anything new to her.

Clint sighed, he thought that there was maybe more to what happened in Alexandra's dream but he wasn't going to find out anytime soon.

**LATER THAT MORNING **

**CRICKET'S HOUSE **

Clint was sitting at the counter working on the plans for the company banquet, normally he'd have one of the other women do this but this year he wanted to make sure his daughter sat with someone she felt comfortable enough with so she wouldn't freak out too much.

He was working on the seating chart when his daughter came padding into the kitchen. She instantly went for the coffee pot and started to make some but realized there was already a fresh pot there. She smiled, and started to pour some into her big mug.

Clint smiled, "did you get any sleep?"

She just sighed, she probably only got a few minutes worth, "not really"

He looked down at the seating arrangement and penciled his daughter's name in next to Blake, he thought that the man would be a good person for Cricket to sit with because she didn't seem so scared around him.

He thought about asking her about the sleeping pills, but he didn't want to make her mad. He sighed when she leaned up against the counter top and didn't even start looking for something to eat. "Alexandra had a hard time sleepin too, she said it was somethin about that teacher"

Cricket sighed, and wrapped her hands around the coffee mug. "doesn't surprise me. she's been that way since we got here"

"I tried to get her to stay home today but she said they were announcing who the new cheerleaders were…" he explained.

Cricket knew her daughter always had a hard time sleeping the night before the squad was announced. "she can never sleep the night before the squad is announced. It's her nerves and excitement that get the best of her"

Clint believed his daughter but he also knew that there was more on his granddaughter's mind than she was letting on. "I believe ya hon. I just want you to know that I'm workin on the banquet that's next weekend… and I really want you to be there"

She sighed, she knew there was no way she was getting out of this banquet, but she knew from past experiences that Mason got really drunk and often hurt her afterwards and sometimes he got a little too aggressive while they were still at his business dinners. "who am I sitting next to?" she asked, trying to hide the fact that she was terrified.

"Blake, I figured he'd be okay for ya to sit with, I didn't want you sitting by somebody you didn't know" he explained.

She nodded, and glanced down at the seating arrangement he was working on. "alright…." she sighed, taking a sip of her warm coffee.

"they know what happened, I don't think anybody will say anything" he reassured her, knowing that was probably not the case.

She just sighed, "whatever. I probably need to go clean up my office anyways"

"don't worry about it, Blake took care of everything. He brought your car home, and your office is straightened up. You don't have to go in today" he explained.

She didn't understand why Blake was so nice. She knew she hadn't done anything to deserve it. She destroyed her office and nearly had a mental breakdown, her abusive husband had died, and her daughter had been attacked by a teacher. Her life was a mess, and he was too good for her. "I'll just go in anyways"

He sighed, he could see that something was bothering his daughter, but he couldn't pin point it. He never really could, it was something that kept the distance between them, and right now he could tell she was really struggling.

About an hour later she came out of her room again, wearing a purple dress and she looked like she had slept a full eight hours the night before. She grabbed her keys, coffee and her purse before heading out the door.

When she showed up she avoided as many people as possible and walked into her office, to find yet another vase of flowers sitting on the desk. She sighed angrily, Blake was wasting his time.

She threw her purse on the floor by her desk and sat down to read the card, _'hope you feel better soon' –Blake. _

She just sighed and put the flowers on the book case behind her desk, and she realized she had a new picture frame, and her pencil holder had been replaced. She was really confused as to why he cared enough to put her office back together and get her flowers. Even if they were some of the prettiest flowers she'd seen in a long time, she wasn't sure if she deserved them.

There was a gentle knock on her door a few minutes later and she told whoever it was to come in. She kicked herself when it was Blake. She tried so hard to keep herself from melting when she saw his smile, for some reason it made her feel safe and she didn't like it.

"hey…" she said, pulling up her emails.

He smiled, and walked further into her office, leaving the door cracked. "hey, I thought you were stayin home today"

"I was. But I just couldn't" she replied, opening an email from Alexandra's counselor. she smiled when she saw that her daughter had made the cheer squad, and just sighed when they wanted to have the teen meet with the woman on a weekly basis.

"why not?" he asked, hoping to get a little more information out of the woman.

"didn't wanna be around my daddy…" she replied, it was true. She didn't want him asking questions that she couldn't answer.

"did he stay with you last night?" Blake asked, sitting at one of the chairs on the other side of Cricket's desk.

She just nodded, and started reading another email. "yeah"

Blake smiled, "has he told you about the company banquet yet?"

She sighed, "yeah, he said he was makin me sit next to you…"

This made Blake happy. He thought maybe he could work with Cricket and see what she was like somewhere other than church or the office. If Ripp's speculations were right, she probably hated dinner parties, since it gave Mason the perfect opportunity to get drunk, and most likely hit her, or worse.

He decided he was going to make this night special for Cricket. He would need help from Clint, and possibly Sharon to make it work. But he knew she deserved a nice night out after everything that had happened. "you can come with me so you don't have to go with your daddy…"

She just shrugged, but at the same time she thought he was possibly asking her on a date. She wasn't sure though because she hadn't been on a nice date since before Mason. Once they were married he didn't care to take her out and do anything nice.

"I dunno…." Was all she could say.

Blake smiled, he knew she was still shy and wary, but he was hoping to help her open up to him soon, and that the banquet would work the way he wanted it too. "just think about it, you don't have to say yes right away"

He knew that giving her an option would make her feel more comfortable than just saying she had to go with him. She nodded and sighed, he knew she probably had a rough night, but he was hoping there was a way he could help her relax and feel safer.

**A/N: I hope you guys like this! We're going to start seeing some more Blicket soon! Let me know if you have any ideas. Please review! **


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

**THE NEXT WEEKEND **

**EARLY SATURDAY EVENING **

**CRICKET'S HOUSE **

Cricket was frantically searching through her closet trying to decide what to wear to the dinner party that night. She had gone with Sharon the day before to get her nails done, and had chosen a deep red for her nails, so she was considering wearing something to match.

She found two red dresses in the back of her closet, one had longer sleeves than the other was sleeveless. She rolled up the sleeve of the t-shirt she threw on after her shower and sighed, there was still a ugly red scar, and a bruise on her shoulder that looked like a hand, but it was so faded it wasn't really visible.

She sighed, it was a little warm but she settled on the dress with the longer sleeves and went to do her hair. She saw her phone light up and it was a text from Alexandra, she was at a cheer party, it was the first get together since they'd announced the team and Cricket had to convince her it was okay to go, which was something she never had to do when they were in L.A.

Cricket just smiled when the girls had gotten to Sharon's after eating, she was happy when Sharon told her that since McKinney was the co captain they would be having the party at her house. This also meant that if Alexandra got a little scared or shy she'd have Sharon there to talk to. Cricket was slowly beginning to gain some trust in the blond, but it wasn't easy.

She just sighed and finished her hair, and makeup. She got dressed and struggled to decide which shoes to wear, her back was hurting her lately and if she wore heels that were too tall, it would just be worse. She gave up and settled on a pair of nude heels that weren't too high. She put her big gold bangles around her wrist, because they hid a scar that she didn't like people seeing, and she didn't feel like putting makeup on it.

Blake was picking her up at six, and it was a few minutes before he would be there. Cricket tried so hard not to go pour a glass of wine, because she was so scared. She was trying to stop drinking, which was something she did to try to numb the pain after Mason had his way with her.

Her fear got the best of her and she answered the door with a small glass of red wine in her hand. He immediately recognized her fear and made a mental note not to drink too much, so she wouldn't be completely freaked out. "hey" he smiled, stepping just inside her door.

She gulped down her wine and grabbed her purse, "ready?"

He could tell she wanted to get the dinner party over with as quickly and painless as possible, and he was going to try to make sure she had a good night. He smiled but he knew she was scared when there was a slight tremble in her voice, and her knees. He gently took her hands and squeezed them, "Crick, I won't do anything to hurt you tonight, I'm not gonna drink, and I'll be where you can see me the whole time"

She didn't like him holding her and she just wanted to squirm free of his grasp. But part of her started to see the gentleness in his touch and wanted to melt and breakdown. She gnawed on the inside of her cheek, and squirmed.

He felt her trying to wriggle free and let go, he knew she was still afraid and he didn't want to make her feel worse. She just nodded, she didn't know what to say in response so she just bit the inside of her cheek. That was one of her many habits she had to hide things in, and sometimes she just wanted them to go away.

They got to the dinner party and sat at the table with Cricket's father. Cricket just smiled at her father when she sat down next to him. "hey darlin'" he smiled.

"hey daddy…" she quietly replied, glancing over at Blake.

"can I get you somethin to drink?" he asked. She sighed, he didn't know she was trying to slow down on her drinking, but she couldn't say no to her father at a place like this.

"just some red wine…" she calmly told him, trying to look as normal as possible. She hated that her dad got up from the table so soon, since they were sitting with some of the other important people that worked for him. He got up and the other men just smiled, and Clint offered to get Blake a drink as well before he left the table.

Cricket glared at Blake, but he just squeezed her hand and whispered in her ear that it would be okay. Cricket shuddered when she realized there was a dance floor, that meant someone would be getting too close for her comfort that night, and she didn't want it. She thought she could handle her father, but she wasn't sure.

He came back with their drinks and he smiled at Cricket, she hoped he'd realize she was uneasy, but that definitely didn't happen. He'd been drinking for a while before she got there, and she started shaking her leg under the table and struggling to make small talk with the other men.

As the night went on Cricket's dad continued to drink and talk with his friends, while she got up and tried to talk to some of the secretaries that she'd started to befriend. Blake stayed close to her most of the night. About half way through he noticed she was starting to get uneasy, he came up to her, but he walked in front of her so he wouldn't scare her. He smiled at her when she realized she was just holding her drink. He didn't have one, he was going to try getting her to dance, she needed to loosen up and try to have a little fun.

She smiled at him, "hey Blake"

He walked a little closer and quietly asked her to dance. She hesitated but agreed. He took her drink and gave it to one of the ladies, he knew he could trust her with Cricket's drink and nothing bad would happen.

He guided Cricket to the dance floor and placed his hand on her back, she took in a sharp breath because he'd touched a bruise, "it's okay Crick" he reminded her.

She shuddered, but she knew how to hide it because of Mason. She let Blake wrap his arms around her but she could tell he was keeping some distance. He stayed still to let Cricket get used to him being that close, and he whispered, "take a deep breath, just go slow, I've got you"

She took her first steady deep breath in a long time, and it actually felt good. She took two steps closer to Blake and let her hands fall into his. Blake smiled when he felt her steady breaths while his hand was on her back, and he started to slowly rub her back.

Clint smiled when he looked out onto the dance floor and noticed his daughter in Blake's arms, she looked so much more relaxed than when he brought her home from her office after she freaked out. He hoped Blake would do her some good after all the horrible things she'd been through with Mason.

Blake felt Cricket slowly relaxing in his arms but she still felt really tense. "you're okay Crick" he reminded her.

She nodded and mumbled 'okay' back to him. The song ended and Blake led her back to their friends and she grabbed her wine, and took a big sip. He put his hand on her back, and she hid another shudder. She saw her father making his way toward them and took the last gulp out from her wine glass and handed it to Blake. "hey daddy Bo" she said, making it look like she wasn't freaking herself out.

"hey darlin, I know Blake's already had you out there dancin, but you gotta dance with your daddy" he said, smiling at Blake.

She just sighed, and walked away with her father. He held her in his arms just about the same way Blake did and she wasn't as relaxed with him as she was with Blake. "you doin okay?" he asked. She knew he was drunk, but from experience she knew that her dad could control it a lot better than Mason.

She nodded, and for some reason her body just completely relaxed and she rested her head on his shoulder. He just smiled, started rubbing her back, and he took things slow as he danced with Cricket.

He led her off the dance floor a few minutes later and he brought her to a quiet corner just outside the ballroom. "you really okay darlin?" he asked, he was still really concerned.

Cricket desperately wanted another glass of wine, but she told herself two was her limit. "I'm tryin to quit drinkin daddy" she told him.

He sighed, he knew part of why she was so anxious the whole night. "you don't have to drink anymore"

She nodded, "mmk…do I have to stay all night?"

He knew she was struggling with everything that had happened with Mason, so he chose his answer carefully, "no, but I want you to stay a little while longer, alright"

She decided she could handle her father's suggestion and just nodded, and walked back into the ballroom to find Blake. He met her close to the door and smiled, "you alright?"

She nodded, she wasn't up for much talking because she was afraid her voice would crack. Blake sensed her uneasiness and led her to a corner of the room that was less occupied than some others. "Crick, what's really on your mind?"

"M… Mason…" she stuttered, her voice cracking and tears threatening to spill. She was so afraid that Blake would get drunk and hurt her exactly like Mason did.

He sighed, "what about him?"

Part of her wanted to shrug Blake off and push him further away but she was starting to want someone that would help her get through this. She also didn't want to spill her secret to him at a place like this. It would make her miserable, and she'd end up looking like a mess. She was already starting to feel a little tipsy and it was getting the best of her.

"nothin…" She sighed, and looked down at her feet.

Blake just smiled, "I think you just need a little fresh air"

She agreed and followed him outside to the balcony. She sat in one of the chairs because her feet and back were starting to hurt. He pulled another chair close and sat by her. He was beginning to think that Ripp was right about what had happened to her. She sighed, "I hate stuff like this"

That explained a lot to him, he knew that with Mason's job she had gone to more than enough parties like this to dislike them. He also realized it gave Mason the perfect opportunity to get drunk, and in the things she had written she said that he was always drunk. "why?" he asked, he wanted her to talk, and open up to him.

The wine got the best of her, and she wasn't really trying to hold anything inside anymore. "Mason… got drunk… and he… liked to… " she started, but she realized what she was doing and bit the inside of her cheek.

Blake sighed, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know all the things that Cricket had been through but if it helped her he was willing to listen. "it's okay Crick, take your time"

She gulped and looked down at her hands when she told Blake her secret, "he liked to hurt me…"

Blake wanted to hold her in his arms and tell her it would be okay, but he knew she wasn't ready for that yet. She looked so broken and confused sitting there in the chair, her voice had cracked when she told him that her husband liked to hurt her for what seemed like a long period of time. He gently put his hand on top of hers and gave hers a gentle squeeze. "I'm glad you told me, now I can help you a lot more"

"h… how?" she asked, stumbling over her words. She didn't know what to do to make everything go away, and was desperate for someone to make things disappear.

He smiled, "right now I wanna get you home, I can tell you don't wanna be here anymore and we can talk about this later, after you've gotten some sleep"

She was too scared to let him help her home, Mason had raped her after the last party she went to with him. She didn't want Blake to do the same thing. She didn't realize that she had let out a whimper, and was trembling. She tried to calm herself but it wasn't going to work.

Blake noticed her fear skyrocketing and he gently took her hands and gave them a gentle squeeze, "Crick, look at me, I won't do anything to hurt you, I drove us here so I want to make sure you get home safe. Your daddy's had too much to drink. And I'll leave as soon as you tell me to"

She blinked back tears. Her hands were still shaking in his but he was holding them still. She didn't understand why he was being so nice to her. She wanted him to know how scared, confused, tired, and stressed she was but she didn't know how to let her feelings out. She just hoped he could read her mind as she struggled not to cry.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

**THE NEXT MORNING  
CRICKET'S HOME **

Cricket woke up with a headache, but it wasn't anything new. She rolled over and glanced at her phone, it was almost nine. She was still exhausted from the night before but she had to be up when Alexandra got home.

She pushed herself up and noticed two Advil sitting on her nightstand with a glass of water. She just sighed, Blake had brought her home and she wasn't sure if he'd done anything to her. She got up and looked at herself in the mirror, she had leftover makeup on her face and she looked like she'd been crying before she fell asleep. She was surprised when there were no new bruises on her body. She took the medicine and washed her face.

She sat down in bed and saw a message from Blake on her phone, _'you fell asleep on the way home, I left you some Advil by your bed. Hope you slept good…' –Blake. _

She couldn't help but smile, she went to a dinner party, and woke up without any new bruises on her. All Blake did was help her home and let her sleep. She remembered why she slept, she had a little too much to drink. She hated herself for it and sighed.

It was still early enough for her to get ready and make church on time so she got ready and texted her daughter and made sure she would be there.

She got to the church and immediately Blake walked up to her and for the first time in her adult life she felt protected. She knew he knew her secret and if he was with her he wouldn't tell anyone. He gently put a hand on her back, "hey Crick"

She was surprised when his touch didn't make her cringe. She wasn't sure why it didn't but she wasn't going to dwell on it. "hey…" she said, hiding a yawn.

Blake knew she had to be tired, she took a big step the night before telling him what had happened in her past, and he wanted to see if he could get her to meet with Pastor Tudor later and talk about it. She sat next to him and she just smiled when Alexandra was sitting with Sharon and Zack.

Ripp shot a glance at Blake and smiled when Pastor Tudor started talking about the things they'd discussed the week before. Blake could feel Cricket tense up but he just sighed, he didn't want to do anything to startle her.

After the service Cricket seemed to be shy and tense but Blake stayed close to her to try to calm her. She made it through coffee hour without anyone trying to ask her if she was okay, well, she thought she did.

Towards the end she noticed Pastor Tudor walking towards her and she glanced at Blake. She was worried he told her secret. He just smiled at her, not saying anything. The pastor saw the fear in the woman's eyes and smiled, he hoped that she'd see he wouldn't hurt her. "hey Cricket" he said, trying to be calm.

"hey" She smiled back, she wanted to grab Blake's hand and make sure the only person who knew her dark secret wouldn't walk away but she was just too scared.

"how're things going?" the younger man asked. He was worried about the woman standing near him, but he didn't want her to feel threatened while he was talking to her.

"fine…" the woman replied, sighing.

Blake looked at her, smiled, and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. The squeeze was so gentle that she wanted to break, she wanted to tell Pastor Tudor what had happened to her, but she was trying so hard to hold it together.

Blake noticed how she was barely hanging on and wanted to do whatever he could to help her. "It's okay if you're not fine Crick, you can tell us if you're upset" he thought that maybe she needed a gentle reminder that she could talk about what had happened to her.

Cricket hesitantly glanced around the room and noticed her daughter was talking with McKinney and seemed happy. She didn't want to tell them what was wrong in front of the other people in the room, since she knew she would lose it and most likely cry. She didn't want Alexandra to see her upset. She just didn't say anything and looked down at her feet.

Pastor Tudor noticed her anxiety and smiled, "Cricket, we can go in my office and talk if it makes you more comfortable"

Cricket thought about his offer and just nodded. She followed the two men into the office and hesitantly sat in a chair while Blake stood next to her. "I…. don't really know where to start" the woman sighed, looking down at her freshly painted nails.

Pastor Tudor sat down on his side of the desk and smiled, "just take your time Cricket, I'm not going to force you to talk"

She sighed and glanced at Blake. Somehow her hand found it's way to his and it actually brought her comfort. She felt more relaxed when his gentle hand was holding onto hers. He smiled at her and nodded, encouraging her to tell the pastor what she'd told him the night before. Cricket took a big deep breath and started to tell her story from the beginning. She talked about how Mason had first started hitting her and how he was drunk most of the time. She told them how she was too scared to tell anyone she knew back in LA and she mentioned that she lived in constant fear of someone finding out her dark secret.

Both men just sighed as she told them about her life for the past sixteen years. Blake was still holding her hand and he was now rubbing her knuckles with his thumb to help her calm down. What Cricket was not telling them was how she struggled to sleep at night and how she struggled to hide her bruises and the way she felt about herself.

Pastor Tudor decided that Cricket needed someone she could talk to about everything and could trust. He was glad that she had finally told him what had happened so he could help her. It was a good thing for Cricket that the man was dead, so she didn't have to worry about him hurting her again.

Cricket was barely hanging on and struggling not to break down. She didn't want any of the other ladies to see her upset and an emotional mess. Her daughter didn't need to know either, and as long as she could keep her secret from the teen, the better.

Blake was starting to pick up on Cricket's facial expressions and he could now tell when she was hiding back tears. After the night before he knew that she gnawed her lip when she was struggling not to cry. He sighed when he noticed her entire bottom lip was in her mouth and she wasn't making eye contact with anyone. He squeezed her hand a little tighter and smiled, "It's okay Cricket, just let it out…"

He knew she needed to let her emotions out but he had a feeling she was too scared. Her lip quivered and a few tears fell but she couldn't control them for very long and she was sobbing in the chair. She hated herself for what she was doing but she had been contemplating letting Blake in for a few days now. She was afraid he'd think she was crazy and not want anything to do with her because of the secrets she carried.

She'd bent over in the chair to bury her face in her hands, but she hadn't been crying for very long when she felt a gentle hand rubbing her back. She was a little afraid to look to see who it belonged to and she still had some healing bruises in the middle. She shuddered and didn't fight the hand that was on her. She was a little afraid to but at the same time it felt nice to have someone comfort her.

She was sobbing so much that she didn't hear Pastor Tudor give Blake the name of a therapist that often worked with horses, and asked if he'd be willing to bring her to his ranch to let the woman work with her.

After about twenty minutes Cricket's phone started to beep and she moaned. She didn't want anything to do with anyone right now and wanted to ignore it. Blake told her he was going to check to see who it was. He sighed when it was her sixteen year old daughter asking where she was. She told him to text the teen back and tell her she'd be home soon and they could get lunch after.

Blake just sent the text and sighed. He considered talking to her about the possibility of therapy, but he knew she would probably turn it down. "Cricket, I know you will most likely say no, but there's a woman who's a counselor and she does a lot of work with horses. We were thinking about having her work with you at my ranch for a while"

This startled Cricket but she contemplated the idea at the same time. She loved horses growing up and hadn't been around them since she'd been in California. She shrugged, she wasn't sure yet but it was something she wasn't going to say no to right away. "w… when?"

Blake smiled, "whenever you're ready. I don't want to push you to do anything"

She just nodded, she wanted things to start getting better, and she was tired of not having anyone to talk to. Yeah, she had her father but sometimes he just didn't understand what she wanted to tell him or he just blew her off.

She stayed in Pastor Tudor's office another twenty minutes so she could calm down. the tears came back so they wanted to make sure she was really okay before they let her go home. She was surprised when Blake offered to walk her to her car, because she thought it might keep people from asking what was wrong. She just wanted to hide behind him for the rest of the day but she knew it wouldn't happen.

He helped her to her car and told her to go home and get something to eat and some rest. She just gave him a small cautious smile and he watched her drive off. He was proud of her for making a huge step by telling them what was really wrong. He knew she had a long way to go to get better but he'd be there through everything she wanted him to be. He knew she needed someone to support her and just be her friend.

**A/N: Sorry about the wait guys. School has been really busy lately. But I have the next twoish chapters written on my phone, so all I have to do is type them. If you have ideas, please let me know!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

**A FEW DAYS LATER **

**CRICKET'S HOME **

Cricket had agreed to try the therapy and Blake was on his way to pick her up so they could spend the day at the ranch. Her father was willing to give both of them the day off, even though there was a lot of arguing before he did.

Blake showed up to Crickets and she couldn't hide her smile when she saw him in jeans and a pearl snap shirt. She had on jeans and an old UCLA shirt, which was something shed never wear but considering what she was about to do, she honestly didn't care.

The ride to the ranch was pretty quiet but Blake could pick up on Crickets nervousness, so he gently squeezed her hand, "breathe Crick, the calmer you are the calmer the horses will be"

She actually squeezed his hand back a lot harder than she was planning to and he was shocked by the strength the woman had. He just smiled, "that's either your nerves or you're terrified" he knew she was more than scared, and he hoped that the horses could ease her nerves and her fears.

She sighed and took her hand away, "sorry..." She knew shed just about crushed his hand but it was either that or a scream. She had been wanting to scream for so long but she didn't have a safe place to do it.

"You don't have to be, I know you're nervous and probably really scared"

She couldn't stop the nod that she gave him and hung her head, the words coming even though she didn't want them to, "I... Wanna scream... but... I can't"

He sighed, he just wanted her to get better, "when we get there, you can scream as loud as you want to, you can cry, and if you need something to hit I'll find you something. When you're here your emotions can come out no matter what"

She was shocked by what he told her. She just wanted so badly to scream and cry away from everyone. They got to the ranch and Cricket hesitantly followed Blake to the house, where the woman was sitting in the kitchen. Blake told the ranch hand about her and he'd let her in about an hour before. The redheaded woman smiled and stood up, "hey Blake, it's nice to see you"

"Hey, Sara, this is Cricket.." he replied, pushing the black haired woman closer.

"Hi..." Was all she could say.

The woman knew Cricket's situation and that shed grown up around horses. So she smiled, "Hi Cricket, when was the last time you've been around a horse?"

The woman thought for a minute, "high school?"

Sara sighed, it would be a journey with Cricket. "Well why don't we head to the barn and you can pick a horse to work with"

The woman nodded and followed Sara and Blake to the barn. Blake opened the big barn doors and stated behind as the redhead walked slowly with Cricket as she looked at each horse. She wasn't really looking, however. She was scared of the horses, but Sara picked up on this, "have you found one you like?"

Cricket shook her head and wanted to run, "n... No"

Sara sighed, "it's okay if you're scared, but I want you to come look at one of the horses I think is really nice"

The woman nodded and followed the redhead to the back of the barn, and up to a stall on the right. It was a brown horse, with a diamond on its head. "This is Sadie, she's really gentle, and she knows when you're frightened"

Cricket timidly looked up to the horse who nodded its head and leaned closer to her. She was quiet but the horse stayed still, waiting on her to react. She turned away, tears brimming in her blue eyes. "What's wrong?" Sara asked, noticing the woman's reaction.

"My... Horse I had when I was little... Was her mom.."

Sara sighed, this was the perfect horse for Cricket. "Does that upset you?"

Cricket nodded, "my daddy sold my horse, and this one. I told him no hundreds of times but he did anyway..."

"Is your horse here?" The woman asked. Cricket looked around and shook her head no. Blake sighed, he wasn't ready to tell the woman her horse had died.

"Has that happened to you a lot?"

Cricket's whole life until now was her begging someone not to do something. She was in tears immediately, which surprised Sara, Cricket hadn't even touched the horse but she knew a vital piece of information. "It's happened since high school..."

This is when Sara knew Cricket had a bad past. "I want you to know that the horses won't be that way. They're trained so if you tell them to stop they will."

Cricket was very skeptical of this, but she turned around to face the horse, "d... Do I have to ride?"

"No, I normally don't have people ride, but with you it may be a good thing"

"How?" Cricket asked.

"Riding gives people a sense of freedom, and they feel like they're in control. So maybe we can work up to you being able to ride"

Cricket nodded, she just wanted to ride far away. "What do I have to do?"

Sara smiled, "first I just want you to get comfortable around her, and then we're going to walk her"

Cricket nodded and Sara opened the door to the stall. The black haired woman followed behind Sara and was just a little startled when the woman brought the horse closer. She loved this horses mom so much when she was younger that she told herself she could like Sadie. The horse recognized Cricket because it calmly lowered its head for her to pet it. Sara encouraged the woman to pet the horse and eventually she did. The horse knew from Cricket's childhood that the woman liked to lay with her horse sometimes.

Sadie stood still for a few minutes and then sat down. Cricket was surprised but she just wanted to feel safe, so she curled up against the horses side. The animal didn't flinch so Sara just let Cricket lay with her horse. The counselor walked over to Blake and sighed, "she's not ready to ride yet, I want to get her to really trust the horse before she rides"

The man nodded, "what can I do to help her with that?"

"Just let her be around it, have her walk Sadie every once in a while, and let her do what she's doing now"

Blake walked over to the open stall and the woman was sound asleep with the horse. "She's out, you can stay until she wakes up or we can work more later.."

Sara sighed, "I'll stay this time, I want to watch her"

Blake nodded and draped a blanket over the woman since it was starting to get colder. Four hours later they heard some small whimpers and movement from the stall. Blake slowly walked in and noticed she was waking up. "Hey sleepyhead..." He smiled.

She moaned and snuggled closer to her horse. "Wanna sleep..."

He laughed and rubbed her shoulder, "it's okay, I think we should let Sadie get up and stretch her muscles."

"Just let me sleep Blake. The bad dreams don't come, and... I.. Feel safe.."

He pet the horses head and just smiled, "alright, just rest"

He got up and left a sleepy Cricket by her horse. Sara smiled at him, "how's she doin?"

"Exhausted. She told me she's not havin her nightmares and that she felt safe. She just wants to sleep"

"I'll let her be, maybe we can work more next week" Sara said, smiling.

"That's fine. I may stay a day or two out here with her if she sleeps better, she really needs it"

The woman nodded and checked on Cricket one more time before leaving. Blake sat with Cricket for another three hours before she woke up. "Hey, sleepyhead"

She moaned, "how long have I been asleep?"

"Seven hours" the man told her, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Seriously?! Sorry..." She said, sighing.

"No Crick, you have nothing to be sorry for. Your body needed the sleep and it just decided that now was a good time for you to rest"

"Did that lady leave?"

"Yeah, she saw that you were sleeping so she said we could try again next week"

Cricket just let out a heavy sigh, there was a calmness that being at the ranch gave her that she hadn't had in years. Her mind wasn't racing, she wasn't living in fear and she felt safe. She didn't know how to tell Blake this though, so she just leaned on her horse again. "Fine.."

Blake noticed she was a lot more comfortable around Sadie than he'd seen her since she'd gotten to Texas. "I really think she's helpin ya relax"

The woman sighed, she couldn't help herself as she started to talk, "my mind isn't racing, I.. I'm not scared... And... I feel... Safe.."

Blake smiled, "that's really good Crick. Why don't we try walkin with Sadie a little bit, she needs to move around"

The woman nodded, and got up, stretching her neck and arms. Blake got the reins for Sadie and the horse seemed happy to be going somewhere. He stood next to Cricket and helped her grab onto the rope. "Let's just go really slow, I've got her too"

Cricket nodded and Blake felt her lagging behind him and Sadie so he stopped, "Crick can you feel how Sadie and I are just a little ahead of you?"

The woman nodded and sighed, "sorry"

Blake hated that she had to say she was sorry for everything when shed done nothing wrong. "You don't have to be sorry, but I want you to feel like you can guide her, and not let her guide you"

Cricket nodded, and stepped a little closer to him. Blake smiled and made sure she was ready before walking again. She was a little better at staying with Sadie now but she was still freaked. Blake felt her grip weakening so he tightened his. "Just a little tighter Crick, you can do this"

"Blake can I just ride, I... w... wa.. want to" Mason often got angry for her saying she wanted something so she stumbled over the word when she asked to ride. He knew he shouldn't let her but he did anyway, "only if you let me ride behind you so I know you'll make it back"

She sighed, it was better than a no, "fine"

Blake glanced at his watch and smiled, "it'll be dark soon, so only for a few minutes, I don't want you goin really far out"

She just nodded and they took Sadie to get a saddle and Blake got his horse. Cricket took off and was running the horse around the field by the barn. Sara was right, she felt free and in control. Blake had his horse still as he watched Cricket run the horse around the barrels that had been up from a few days ago and he could tell there was anger and fear being released. He started to slowly ride his horse around the perimeter of the field while Cricket rode faster each time around the barrels. She finally slowed down and brought the horse to a steadier speed and got next to Blake.

"Feelin better?" He asked.

She nodded, "I... It feels like.. Everything is... Gone"

He could tell she felt free and relaxed. He wanted to keep her here to heal longer but they both needed to work. She yawned so Blake decided it was time to put the horses away, eat, and head home. He thought about Alexandra and thought maybe the teen needed to spend some time with a horse too. "What if next time we brought Alexandra?"

This was when cricket noticed how much better she felt and actually smiled, "I.. Think we should"

Blake knew her attitude had changed and he was happy, "alright, do you want to talk to her? Or me?"

Cricket was too nervous for that so she just looked at Blake, "will you?"

He nodded and thought that maybe he'd help Cricket talk to the teen. He smiled as they went to the house and he got her something to eat.

**A/N: wow, long chapter. I wrote this on notes in my phone and I couldn't really tell how long it'd gotten, but it was hard to split up. I hope you enjoy this! **


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

Blake got Cricket home a little after midnight and it was starting to storm. They'd seen her daughters car in the driveway so they knew she was safe inside. The house was fairly quiet, except for some whimpers coming from upstairs. "Alexandra..." Cricket sighed.

"Do you want to check on her or me?" Blake asked, but before she could answer they were interrupted by a loud clap of thunder, and a scream from upstairs. Cricket sighed again, secretly she was terrified of thunderstorms but she felt like she'd let her guard down too much in one day so she wouldn't let Blake know. He did pick up on her tenseness and sighed, "I can come with you.."

Cricket nodded, towards the end Mason never seemed to show any interest in Alexandra so she thought Blake could start to fill that void she knew the teen had. She kicked herself because she wasn't even sure if Blake was interested.

Her heart broke when she got to her daughter's room, Alexandra was curled up under the covers and shaking. It took another loud clap of thunder for Cricket to realize how scared she was and that her daughter was crying. Blake could see the fear in both mom and daughter and sighed, he thought he might have to stay to help them. Cricket gulped and made her way to the crying teen. She sat down and started rubbing the girl's back "darlin, it's momma... It's okay"

Cricket was lying to herself because she herself was terrified, and was struggling to hide it because she felt so vulnerable still.

The teen squirmed and was as stiff as a board. Cricket felt bad for leaving the teen when she knew storms scared her but she didn't know they were expecting rain. After a few minutes of Cricket just rubbing Alexandra's back, the woman felt her daughter start to relax and the covers came down from over her head and her eyes opened. The teen was too scared to speak and the blanket went right back over her head when she saw Blake. Cricket sighed, "look at momma hon, I'm here now"

The teen hesitantly looked at her mom and whimpered, "w... Who's here?"

Cricket sighed, "it's only Blake darlin, we just got back from the ranch"

The teen sighed, and forced herself to sit up. She saw the man and forced a smile. He smiled back and just by his smile Alexandra could tell he liked her mom.

Cricket pulled her daughter into a hug and started rubbing her back. The teen continued to whimper as the storm got worse. Blake looked at his phone and sighed, this was only the beginning of the storm that would keep both women up all night. He spotted a candle in the teen's room that he wanted to keep an eye on incase they lost power. Alexandra cried herself back to sleep in crickets arms and she gently laid her daughter down in bed and fixed the sheets.

She watched her teen sleep for a few minutes and realized she was exhausted so she went up to Blake, "I... I'm gonna get ready for bed... Have you looked at the weather?"

He nodded, "this is the beginning, there's a tornado watch until 4"

She was even more afraid and Blake could see the fear etched in her face. "O... Okay" she mumbled.

He sighed, "it's okay to be scared Cricket, you can tell me how you're feelin"

"I.. Hate storms just as much as Alexandra does..." She replied.

He smiled, and gently took her hand, "why don't you get cleaned up, and I'll stay here and we can sit on the couch and maybe put in a movie"

She was scared for him to see her with no makeup but she was exhausted and scared, so she just sighed "f.. Fine"

She was afraid to say no because she didn't want to get hurt. She'd never tell that to Blake though. They went downstairs and Blake got the movie set up while Cricket got cleaned up and he smiled when she hesitantly made her way to the couch. She was wearing a pair of plaid pajama bottoms and a blue top. Blake smiled, "hey, just come sit down, I promise it's not a scary movie"

She sighed in relief and hesitantly sat by him. He pressed play and she smiled when Legally Blonde came on, "seriously?"

He laughed, "it's not scary, and I thought it'd be somethin to get ya to laugh"

She just felt better having him around and thinking about her. She was still far away from him and so tense. He noticed that she was as stiff as a board and sighed, he just wanted to hold her and tell her it was okay.

He slowly moved closer to her and he could tell she just tensed up more. He felt bad for her when he saw she couldn't relax, he knew she just needed to be held. "Try to relax Crick, I won't hurt you, and I'll only touch you if you let me"

She sighed and took a shaky deep breath she wanted to relax but she couldn't, she hasn't been able to sine shed been home. "I.. Can't"

"Why not?" He asked, he wanted to help her however he could.

She didn't want to tell him but it just slipped, "since I've been to California I couldn't... I... Was n.. Never happy... W.. With... Mason" she cried, she only stayed because she didn't want to abandon her newborn daughter.

Blake could see the disappointment in her eyes and her voice was thick with hurt and regret. He now knew she moved for the baby. He got a little closer, "I'm gonna rub your back a little, okay.." He just didn't want to startle her.

She hesitantly nodded and he sighed, "if you don't wanna be touched that's okay"

She wanted to be held, to be told she was okay, to hear I love you and it actually mean something. She sighed, "y.. You can"

"You sure?" He asked, he wanted to help her be comfortable at home.

She nodded and he gently put his hand on her back and at first she tensed but he started to gently massage her sore muscles and he could feel her shoulders slouching. He kept rubbing her back and kneading the tense muscles where she had knots. She sighed and inched closer. He smiled and kept massaging a spot on her shoulder where she was so tense. "Cricket take some deep breaths for me"

Her first breath was shaky, but as Blake kept kneading her shoulders they became more even and she felt her eyes growing heavy but Blake's hands were so gentle and it felt good on her sore muscles. She didn't want him to stop because her pain was going away. He could feel her getting weaker as he kept rubbing her back and he hoped she was getting sleepy. "How're you feelin?"

She went to answer but she let out a big yawn and slumped over more. He just smiled, he'd figured out how to help the woman relax. Most of her pain was in her back and he'd helped her muscles relax and she really needed it.

He just smiled and kept his hands on her back, "I think it's time you laid down to sleep"

She sighed, that would mean he'd leave her and she felt safe with him. She shook her head no, she wanted him to stay and keep rubbing her sore back. "Does your back feel better?"

She nodded "a.. Lot"

He smiled, "want me to keep doing this?"

She nodded, maybe shed just fall asleep and he'd hold her without her having to ask. "My back still really hurts..."

"Why does it hurt?" He asked, as he started working out another knot.

She shrugged. He just kept rubbing her back and hoping it helped a little. He was worried when he hit a rib that seemed to be broken and out of place. He didn't want to say anything but he wanted her to be okay. "Don't get mad at me, but I want you to see a doctor, they can help you with the pain"

She was so scared and hated her doctor. He could see her fear when she told him no. He kept his hands on her back, "you really should, if you want I'll go with you, so you aren't alone"

She thought about it, shrugged, but agreed anyways. He continued to rub her back early into the morning and she finally fell asleep. It was nearing four and he hasn't slept at all, but she needed him. He didn't want her working that day and just wanted her to sleep. He watched her sleep and noticed she didn't look very healthy. She was pale and thinner than he'd thought. But the doctor would be able to really tell. He covered her up and turned down the TV volume.

**A/N: Hey guys! Well, here is your, the world didn't end present! Another chapter. Let me know what you guys think. **


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

Cricket curled into a ball on the couch and continued to sleep. Blake set his alarm for two hours later and prayed it wouldn't wake the woman sleeping by him. The storm finally passed and Alexandra stayed asleep, which surprised Blake.

He got up with his alarm and quietly went to crickets kitchen. He heard water running and sighed, Alexandra was in the shower getting ready for school. Five minutes later the teen came down in her outfit but her hair was still wet. She was startled when she saw Blake there, "where's momma?" She asked. This made Blake smile, she didn't refer to cricket as her mom, but it seemed like they were already a family. "She's asleep, she's not feelin that great, but if you want somethin to eat I'll get you somethin" the teen was surprised, her dad was always too hungover to feed her in the morning and if he did she was too young to remember. "O... Okay"

Blake smiled, "what do you want?"

"Just cereal..." She replied.

He nodded, "I was gonna make your momma somethin for when she got up, what does she usually eat in the morning..."

Alexandra sighed, "coffee..."

"Is that all?"

She nodded as Blake poured her the bowl of fruit loops. She took the bowl from him as he sighed, "I'm gonna see if she'll eat some breakfast today. She had a really bad headache last night and her back was hurtin, so I want her to stay home"

Alexandra sighed "she won't. She missed yesterday..."

"Let me worry about her, I promise she'll be fine" Blake felt like Alexandra was trying to take care of cricket and he just wanted the teen to have a normal life. She finished her cereal and left without a word. Cricket slept for another two hours and in that time Blake called her father and the doctor. He made sure Alexandra got to school before calling Clint. The man answered, "Mr. Reilly where are you?"

Blake sighed, "I think the question should be where your daughter is, and how her day went yesterday"

Clint sighed, "how'd she do?"

"At first she was scared, but we got her near Sadie, and she just slept, for seven hours in the stall with her"

Clint sighed again, he regretted selling that horse. "What's she doin now?"

"Sleeping. She had a hard night"

"Why?"

"The storm scared her and Alexandra but once she got Alexandra to settle down she had a really hard time relaxing"

"Did you help her?" Clint asked, partially hoping the man would say yes.

"I did, her back was really hurting her, And I hate to say it but I think I found a broken rib"

Clint sighed, the last thing he wanted cricket to have was x rays. He thought about blowing it off but if his daughter was really hurt they needed to help her. "Do you know if she has a doctor?"

"I'm pretty sure she does but I don't know if she's been"

"Let me call the family doctor, she's seen Cricket for years and has made a few house calls..."

Blake thought getting the doctor to come to Crickets might help her relax. "That might be good, I told her I'd go with her"

Clint smiled to himself, Blake was trying to show cricket he cared and honestly Clint wanted the two together.

"Alright, I'll call and let you know. But if she doesn't want you comin I'll go" Clint needed to know if his daughter had any issues they needed to get taken care of.

"That's fine... I really don't think she needs to be workin today, she's miserable" Blake told the man. Clint angrily sighed but he considered coming to check on her.

"Alright, I'll try to get her in today. But I might come by later"

Blake agreed and hung up the phone. He got a message a few minutes later that the doctor was going to come to the house at one. He just smiled and hoped cricket would be more comfortable this way.

It was nearing 10am and she was starting to stir. He sat by her and smiled when she snuggled back into her blanket when she felt his weight on the couch. He started rubbing her back in a slow, gentle pattern and she let out a big yawn and her body moved closer to him.

They stayed this way for about an hour before she started waking up. Blake continued gently rubbing her back and smiled when she rolled over and looked up at him. "Hey, did you sleep good?"

She realized that shed slept without her pills so she hesitantly nodded, "yeah... What time is it?"

"Eleven. You were sound asleep when I got up and I didn't wanna wake you"

She sighed, "what about Alexandra?"

"She's at school, I fed her some breakfast and made sure she left on time" he told the woman, helping her sit up.

She was surprised by the fact that Blake had stayed to take care of them when he could have just left. She nodded and sighed, "work..."

"I called your daddy, told him what happened, and he called your doctor and she'll be here about one"

Cricket was angry, she didn't understand why they'd called the doctor. "I don't need her..."

Blake decided to explain it to her now so she wouldn't be so confused, "Crick just listen, last night when I was rubbing your back I found a rib that felt broken. Your daddy and I just want the doctor to take a look and we thought you'd feel better if she came here" cricket whimpered, but thought that might be why her back was bothering her so much.

"F.. Fine" she mumbled, knowing she wouldn't be able to get out of it. 


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

Blake got Cricket to eat and she took a shower, and came to sit on he couch and was wearing a pair of yoga pants and a shirt from Alexandra's old high school. She figured that since she wasn't actually going to the doctors office it didn't matter what she had on, but she did do her hair and full makeup. Blake smiled and came to sit next to her. She really liked having him around, she just felt safer and she was starting to feel like someone cared.

They sat in a comfortable silence for about half an hour and the doorbell rang. Cricket tensed up as Blake went to answer it. He let the doctor in and explained the situation to the brunette woman. Cricket recognized the woman from her childhood and sighed. When she would get really sick when she was younger her daddy paid the doctor more to come to their house, so she knew that's what had happened now. The woman smiled at Cricket and sighed, it had been a long time since she'd seen Cricket. "How're you doin Cricket?"

Cricket fiddled with the hem of her shirt, "f...fine.."

The doctor sighed and got Cricket to move to her bedroom and sit on her bed so she could do the exam. Blake followed the women and sat on a chair in the middle of the large room.

The woman started and checked Cricket's blood pressure, which was a little high, and her temperature. "Cricket it's a little high, how've you been feelin lately?"

"Tired... I kinda have a headache"

The brunette doctor sighed, "how long have you had your headache?"

"A day or so..."

Julie sighed, "I may give you something for that, but we'll see. I want to see how everything else is doing first." Cricket just nodded and continued her exam. Blake kept an eye on cricket but she seemed comfortable with this woman.

Cricket cooperated for most of the exam but the woman started to feel Cricket's ribs to see if they were really broken. They were okay on the front side but about halfway down Cricket's back she felt a gap that she knew shouldn't be there. Cricket took in a sharp breath and winced, that spot had been hurting her for a while. Her doctor sighed, "that's right on a rib Cricket, how long has it been hurting?"

Cricket sighed, "about a month.."

"I want you to come in for some x rays so we can really see what's wrong" the woman told her.

Cricket tensed up and tried to protest. Blake stepped in, sat by her and smiled, "I'll come with you, you don't have to do any of this alone"

Cricket shuddered, the last time she was in the hospital it was the night Mason died. It terrified her, and she just didn't want to. "No"

Her doctor sighed, "we really need to check on your ribs. And I want to do an ultrasound just to see if everything's okay"

Cricket was terrified now, she looked at Blake, and then down at her feet. Blake took her hand and rubbed her knuckles, "I know you really want to feel better, and this will help you, all you have to do is cooperate"

She sighed and agreed, but she was still terrified. After a few minutes Julie coaxed her to lay down and Cricket fought while the woman tried to examine her abdomen. Julie was really worried about Cricket and was making a list of things she wanted to check in her head. "Does your stomach hurt Cricket?"

She shrugged and hated herself for letting things of her mouth, "he hit me there.. A lot"

This worried Julie, she definitely wanted an ultrasound and maybe a CT. "Just take some big deep breaths for me, it'll help you relax"

Cricket took a few breaths and let Julie finish her exam. Julie really wanted to make sure the woman was okay, "here's the deal, I want you to come in for x rays and an ultrasound. And after that we can talk about the possibility of pain killers"

Cricket sighed, she knew her doctor needed to know about the Ambien. "I... Have.. Sleeping pills.."

This was news to both Blake and Julie. Julie wasn't surprised though, most abuse victims either asked for them or got them at some point. "When did you get them?"

"When I first came back... I went to my friends doctor and got them.."

"Let me take a look and we'll decide if we want to keep these" Julie suggested.

Cricket reluctantly handed her the orange bottle and looked away, ashamed. Blake squeezed her hand, "you're really brave, you know that Crick.."

She just hung her head and fiddled with the hem of her shirt. Julie sighed, "I'll let you keep them, but we're going to change them to my name. I'll probably lower the dose a little. And I want you to be careful with how often you take them."

Cricket sighed, "but I can't sleep"

"What keeps you up?"

Cricket gulped, "nightmares..."

"Do you want to tell me what they're about?" Julie asked, smiling.

Cricket shook her head no. The doctor knew that it would just take time for the woman to feel like she could talk about her dreams. Cricket was given the information she needed to schedule her x rays and ultrasound, and a new prescription for the sleeping pills. Julie smiled and left to go back to her office.

Blake noticed that Cricket was on the verge of a breakdown, so he decided he needed to stay with her more. "Look at me Crick, you can do this, I know hospitals can be scary, but I'll be there every step, okay"

She gave him a weak smile and a nod, "the last time I was in a hospital, I had... To... Identify... The body... He... Was... Covered in... Blood" she stuttered. She couldn't go in another hospital, it terrified her and gave her nightmares.

Blake sighed and rubbed her back, "this is a completely different hospital, and I promise nothing they do will hurt"

She fiddled with the hem of her shirt as the haunting image came back to her, "I don't wanna go"

Blake could see the fear in her eyes as she looked off in the distance. "You won't have to see anything like that, I'm gonna make sure they're focused on you and they help make it less scary"

She sighed, she thought she wasn't worth Blake's help. She just shook her head, "I'll just go and get it over with"

"It's your choice Cricket, but I just want you to know I'm here to help you if you want"

She nodded and a tear pricked her eye. She hadn't had an ultrasound since Alexandra was born and it scared her. She'd never had anything x rayed but he'd never know. "I'm fine"

"You sure?"

She gulped back tears and looked at him. When she saw his gentle smile and his calm expression she lost it. She was bawling and shook her head no. "I can't do it"

He scooped the woman into a hug and she continued to cry. He held her and rocked her until she had no more tears and she was sleeping. He laid her down and covered her up.

He heard the door jiggle and he got up and saw the teen getting home from school. She looked tired and a little angry. "Hey, how was your day?"

She shrugged and opened the refrigerator and grabbed a water bottle. "Don't wanna talk about it"

He sighed, "whatever you tell me I won't tell anyone, I promise"

She gulped, "somebody yelled at me for lying, said that teacher never hurt me..."

Blake felt bad for the teen, shed been through a traumatic experience and she didn't need someone telling her that. "You didn't lie, your momma believed you, Mrs. Peacham believed you, your lawyer believed you, and so did the judge." He told the teen, who sighed.

"They said I just did it for attention..."

Blake wanted to know who said these things to the teen, because he knew her allegations were true. "You did the right thing by telling someone what he did to you. You were really brave and I know it wasn't easy"

Alexandra just sighed, if she was brave why couldn't she talk about her father. "I'm not"

Blake stood next to her, "why do you think you're not?"

Alexandra gulped, "I still let it happen, I always did" she hoped that Blake would pick up on her hint.

"Has something happened before?"

The teen nodded just as her mom walked in. She sighed and smiled at the woman, "hey momma"

The woman hugged her daughter and smiled at Blake. "How's school?"

"Okay... They want me to be a flyer again momma"

The teen loved being tossed in the air during the cheer stunts and was excited when the squad had chosen her as one of their flyers. "That's great darlin, I know you really like doin that"

The teen smiled and nodded but had a longing look in her eye, "momma, can... I tell you somethin?"

"Sure kiddo, I'm here"

She gulped and looked to Blake who just nodded, "my teacher isn't the only one who's hurt me"

Cricket was surprised but had a feeling she knew who it was. "Who else darlin?"

The teen hung her head, "daddy"

Cricket's worst nightmare had come true and she didn't understand why Blake was still there, gently rubbing the teens back. Cricket pulled her Daughter into a hug and held her, "I'm so sorry baby girl. But I want you to know somethin, he didn't just hurt you, he hurt me too"

Alexandra whimpered, "really?"

"Yeah hon, he hurt me a lot. I have to go to my doctor and get some x rays and an ultrasound"

"Why?" The teen asked.

"One of my ribs feels broken and my doctor just wants to check for any other injuries." Cricket explained, looking at her daughter.

"He touched me... Just like my teacher, he hit me, and he cut my hair one time"

Cricket sighed, shed gotten angry with the teen for cutting her hair without asking, "oh baby girl, if I'd known I wouldn't have yelled at you for cutting your hair. Lets see how it's growin out"

The teen turned around and let her mom run her fingers through her hair. Cricket thought the teen deserved a nice hair cut. Alexandra whimpered but didn't say anything.

"Here's what we'll do, I think you deserve a nice hair cut and we can fix your color if you want. I'll call Sharon and find out who does her hair and see if I can get you in"

Blake was proud of Cricket for sharing her secret with Alexandra and being so understanding, he thought it was time he left the two alone so they could talk.

Alexandra agreed to her mother's suggestion and Blake smiled, "why don't I let you two have some time to yourselves and if you need anything you can call me, okay"

Cricket agreed and thanked him for staying as long as he did and helping her. Alexandra was sitting on a bar stool by the counter and just looked at Cricket. "Momma he likes you"

Cricket just smiled at the teen, "I doubt it darlin"

"He took you to his ranch, and he stayed with you last night..." She explained.

The woman sighed, she didn't know any other man who would take the time to knead all of the knots out of her back like he did or that would sit with her while her doctor was here. "It's possible then, huh.."

"It's obvious, you know I couldn't sleep that good last night and I heard Legally Blonde on and I heard his voice."

Cricket sighed, "I know darlin, it'll just be us tonight, okay"

The teen nodded, "can.. I talk to coach McIntyre about a scholarship?"

"Do you still wanna cheer in college?" The woman asked.

"Kinda.. If anybody here will want me" the teen shrugged.

Cricket smiled, "I'm sure we'll figure it out darlin, we can always call coach Suzie and see if she can help you out"

"Do you think the guy at UCLA would still want me?" The teen asked.

This upset Cricket, her daughter loved UCLA and it was her dream school. But she didn't know if she could let her daughter go back to LA alone.

**A/N: Happy New Year! I have so much of this written on my phone but I'm trying to space the chapters out a little. I hope you guys are enjoying this. **


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

A few days later Cricket was waiting at home for her father to pick her up and take her to the hospital. With Blake's encouragement she had made the appointments and her father agreed to take her. She spent her time wishing she'd asked Blake instead.

There was a knock on her door and she slowly got up to answer it. She smiled at her father when she saw him and he gave her a gentle hug, "you ready darlin?" He asked.

The woman nodded, and followed her father to his truck.

The ride was silent and she nervously followed her father to the radiology department and signed in. A female nurse called her name and asked her to change into a gown. She was soon called to get her x rays done and looked to Clint, who followed his daughter to the room and put on a protective vest. He helped her through the x rays and she was told to wait so her doctor could look at the pictures.

A few minutes later the doctor came in and smiled at the woman and her father. "Well it's definitely broken, but it's a small break so it should heal on its own if you're really careful."

Cricket sighed and let the woman show her the pictures of her ribs. "So you don't have to do surgery?"

"Not yet, I'm going to give you some pain medicine, and I want to do x rays again in another month to be sure it's healing okay"

Cricket sighed, and agreed. She didn't want to go through surgery. They were taken to a different room that was set up for her ultrasound. A woman came in and explained things to Cricket and started the ultrasound. About a few minutes in Clint got up and held his daughters hand, "relax darlin, I'm still here"

The technician smiled at him when she saw some of the muscles relax. He continued to hold her hand through the entire scan but he waited outside while she changed. He smiled when she opened the door and he paid so they could leave. "That wasn't too bad, huh darlin"

She shook her head and yawned. She couldn't sleep the night before because she was nervous, but didn't take her pills. "I'm fine... can we go back to the office?"

Clint sighed, he hoped for her to rest the rest of the day but agreed anyways and drove to the large office building.

Cricket went to her office and opened up her emails to find an update from Alexandra's counselor and smiled when she saw that the teen was starting to open up and had asked about scholarships. Blake came in and smiled at her, "hey"

He wanted to talk to her about GiGi's party, which was that weekend, he knew shed get invited. "Hey Blake.."

"How'd it go this mornin?"

"Okay.. She said my rib was broken but I don't need surgery, and I have pain meds..." She explained.

He smiled, "that's good Crick... There's somethin I wanna talk to you about"

She sighed, "what?"

"Well GiGi is havin a welcome back party for Burl and she's invitin everybody, but I want you to be my date"

Cricket was shocked, the man she had been secretly crushing on was asking her on a date, and she couldn't figure out why. "Really?"

"Yeah, it'll be better than that dinner we went to earlier this month. It's just our friends" he explained.

She hesitantly agreed, maybe she could get Alexandra to spend some time with her dad. Blake smiled, and his gentle smile made her melt and she had to agree with Alexandra, but she liked him.

That afternoon shed talked to her dad and he agreed to take Alexandra do dinner and spend some time with her so she could go to the party. She went home and found her teen working on school work when she got in, "hey darlin.."

"Hey momma..." She replied, smiling.

Cricket was happy to see her daughter smile, though she wasn't sure if it was a real smile. "How was school?"

"Fine, I talked to coach today..." The teen explained.

"How'd that go?"

The teen went on to explain that the woman would help her find a scholarship and would call the UCLA coach. Cricket smiled, "that's great hon, tonight I have to go to GiGi's party but granddaddy agreed to take you out to dinner and he might let ya do a little shopping..."

The teen sighed but agreed, "I don't really know him..."

"He wants to get to know you, he's really the only family I have here"

Alexandra sighed, "I guess so"

Cricket was happy that her daughter agreed, and went to start getting ready. A few hours later Clint rang the doorbell, and Cricket answered, wearing her dress, but not her wig. "Hey darlin" the older man said, smiling.

Alexandra came downstairs ready for dinner but cricket could tell she was a little shy. "Hey daddy, Alexandra come here darlin"

The teen slowly approached the adults and Cricket squeezed her shoulder, but Clint spoke first. "Hey Alexandra, you don't have to be scared, I'm not gonna hurt you"

The teen looked to her mom who nodded and smiled. Alexandra just sighed, "I... Know"

Clint smiled, "where do you want to go eat?"

She shrugged and ended up letting Clint pick where he took her to dinner. He left with the teen and reassured his daughter that she would be just fine.

Cricket finished getting ready just in time and Blake showed up. She laughed at his costume and he helped her into his truck.

A few hours into the party Blake hadn't really left Cricket's side and she was thankful. They both decided to get something to eat when Blake noticed cricket had turned white as the plates and was so stiff. He walked over to her, "Cricket, what's on your mind?"

Before she answered he saw Bitsy laying face first on the floor, dead. He sighed, that was the last thing Cricket needed to see. He slowly guided the traumatized woman out to the back porch where it was empty of party guests and had her sit down. "Breathe crick, slow, easy deep breaths"

She tried to take the deep breaths but she was struggling. She was speechless and she started to shake. Blake realized she was having a panic attack and squeezed her hand. He noticed how much she was struggling just to breathe and he noticed the paramedics had been called because someone else had seen Bitsy. "Just keep taking slow deep breaths Crick, I'll be right back, okay"

She nodded and looked angry when he came back with one of the paramedics. "She's just gonna help you breathe Crick, that's all"

Cricket sighed, but agreed and let the woman listen to her before she put an oxygen mask on Cricket and told her to keep taking the deep breaths. Blake held Cricket's hand and started rubbing her back, "try to relax, it's okay"

She leaned into him and kept struggling to catch her breath. She whimpered, "sorry..."

Blake continued what he was doing to comfort her and told her she didn't need to be sorry. After a few minutes her breaths became less shaky and she was able to take some big deep breaths. The paramedic smiled and kept the oxygen on for another few minutes. She finally caught her breath and the woman said she wanted Cricket to see her doctor just to be sure everything was okay. Blake thanked her and continued to try to comfort cricket. "Do you want me to bring you home? At this point I don't think anyone would care"

She nodded and he helped her to his truck and drove her home. He noticed she was sleeping when they got there so he just continued to drive around hoping shed stay asleep longer. He drove for an hour before she stirred in her sleep and woke up, "where are we?"

He smiled, "not too far from your place, you were sleepin so I decided to just drive around a little"

She just yawned, "I.. Actually slept"

"That's good Crick" he told her, squeezing her hand.

"Can... You keep drivin?" She asked.

He smiled, "why don't I take you home and have you put on something comfortable and I'll drive ya around some more"

She agreed and he brought her home. She was glad Alexandra was staying at Clint's for the night so she changed into a pair of pajama bottoms and a t shirt. Blake smiled when she came back to his truck and climbed in. She curled up in the seat and he just drove around town for about two hours and noticed she was sound asleep. He also noticed she had put her house key on his console so he could get inside later. He drove her home and went to open the house first before going to get her. He picked up the sleeping woman and carried her to bed. She squirmed when he laid her down and covered her up, but she never woke up. Blake left her a note and hoped shed be okay in the morning.

**A/N: I hope you guys are enjoying this! My goal is to get this finished sometime soon. Let me know if you have ideas. **


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

It was about a week later and Cricket had decided that she actually liked Blake more than she had originally thought. All the ladies wouldn't stop asking her about him and kept trying to set them up. Cricket finally gave in and let Sharon set them up for a dinner date at a very fancy restaurant that next weekend.

She was surprised to find a large Neiman Marcus gift card on her desk Monday morning and it surprised her even more when it was from her daddy, 'I heard my little girl has herself a date with a good man, go buy yourself somethin pretty. -daddy'

She just smiled and put the card in her purse. Her day went by like any other work day but just before she was leaving her dad came in her office and smiled, "hey darlin"

She smiled at the man, "I got the card, thanks daddy"

He smiled, "you deserve it crick, Blake's a good man, he treats you right already"

She just sighed, "it's only a date daddy, nothing more..."

He laughed, "sure it is. But what I really want to know is when you're gonna change your name.."

"I don't know, I've... Been busy" she quietly replied.

"Here's the deal, I'll take ya to lunch tomorrow, then we'll go by the lawyers and change it" he told her.

She smiled, "okay... can we do Alexandra's too?"

"Sure darlin, but I want you to talk to her, okay" he told his daughter.

She just nodded, hugged her dad and left the office shortly after him. She got home and Alexandra was eating while texting someone. "Hey hon"

The teen smiled, "hi momma"

"Can we talk for a couple minutes?" Cricket asked, watching her teen put down her phone.

Alexandra nodded, "okay, why?"

"I'm gonna change my name back to Caruth tomorrow, and granddaddy wants to know if you want your name to be Caruth too..." She explained.

The teen sighed, "kinda... I dunno"

Cricket knew this would be a big change for the young girl but she wouldn't complain if she wanted to wait. "What are ya thinkin about?"

"Scholarships... All the California coaches know me as Alexandra Massey, if I change... They might not be able to find me" the teen explained.

Cricket felt bad for the young girl, she just wanted things to be better and hoped that if things went well with Blake he could adopt the teen and she could become Alexandra Reilly. "Coach McIntyre can help you with that sweetie, she can explain things to the coaches for you"

"She doesn't really know about... Dad... Or that teacher" the teen sighed.

"Hon, I felt a lot better when I really talked to Blake about your daddy, I think it's okay if you just try to talk to coach" the woman explained.

The teen sighed, "I'll.. Try"

Cricket smiled and hugged her daughter, the teen was struggling to adjust and right now she just wanted her mom. Alexandra hugged Cricket tight and the woman tried to hide the pain from her rib but she knew her daughter needed to be held. She continued hugging the teen until she heard a sniffle, "darlin, what's wrong?"

"People are tellin me that Bozeman Peacham likes me..." The teen snuffled.

Cricket giggled, "now, who's sayin that?"

She shrugged, "Laura and McKinney.."

Cricket sighed, "I'll talk to Sharon, don't you worry. He may actually like you sweetie, but what you do about it is up to you"

"Mmk... I don't want him to like me.." She whimpered.

Cricket sighed, "darlin it's okay, Blake likes me, and I didn't do anything to make it happen, and it may be the same way with Bozeman"

The teen just sighed, "can I just ignore him?"

Cricket laughed, "you can try, but when we're at church I want you to be nice"

Alexandra just nodded and walked off. She was so confused about some of the things that were happening and she wanted to talk to someone, but she didn't know who.

Cricket wished she could help Alexandra but she had never really been able to, but when she left it up to mason he just hurt her instead. She hated herself for it and was struggling not to get a glass of wine. She held it together and called Sharon. "Hey Cricket!" The woman greeted.

"Hey Sharon, I've got a question.." The woman replied.

"Alright, what?"

Cricket sighed, "has Bozeman talked to you about girls lately?"

Sharon kicked herself and realized what this was about, "no, did he do somethin to Alexandra?"

"He hasn't, but she told me that McKinney and Laura said he liked her" cricket explained.

Sharon understood now why Cricket was calling her, her daughter hadn't had a nice man in her life and was scared, "he hasn't mentioned it yet, but I'll talk to him. How'd Alexandra react to hearin it?"

"She got all teary eyed on me, but we were talkin about other stuff too so I'm not sure if it was Bozeman that made her get all emotional" Cricket explained.

The blond sighed, "I'll get it sorted out, tell Alexandra that I'll talk to Bozeman and McKinney"

Cricket smiled, "thanks, maybe Blake.. Or Zach could talk to her... She doesn't have.. a good guy in her life"

"Crick don't worry, Zach's always here if Alexandra wants to talk, but you need a good man too, did you find something to wear?"

"Not yet, daddy Bo left me a Neiman's gift card today, so I'll find something" cricket said, smiling.

Sharon smiled to herself, "alright, let me know, Blake's a really good guy for ya"

Cricket just agreed and ended the conversation. She tried to convince her teen to go shopping but the seventeen year old didn't want to. She said shed run to Neiman's and bring dinner home for them in a few hours.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

Cricket and Blake had just come home from dinner and they were on crickets couch in her room. Blake could tell she had something on her mind so he started rubbing her back. "Talk to me, what's got you thinkin"

She sighed, "Alexandra. She told me Bozeman peacham likes her and she got all sniffly on me. And all I could say was to try and ignore it... Maternal is just not in my skill set"

He sighed, "you are brave, you are kind, and the people you love feel safe, that sounds maternal to me"

She hung her head, "you try, I don't think I can do it well enough"

He squeezed her hands, "I will, but I want you to know somethin, you're so much stronger than you think"

She felt a tear prick her eye and sighed angrily. She shook her head and looked off in the distance. "I'm not worth this Blake, my body is just ugly, and I'm so messed up"

He sighed and kept holding her hands. He wanted her to feel his gentle touch and the calmness that he had. "Crick, just look at me, that's all I want right now"

She took a shaky breath and hesitantly made eye contact with him. She struggled to hold the eye contact but he followed her eyes to help her. She was finally able to hold a steady gaze with him and sighed, "you don't want me..."

"I do want you Cricket, no matter what has happened before. I want to help you and Alexandra get through this, because I know you can"

She sighed, "really?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna do whatever it takes to help you, even if you just want me around, it's okay"

She sighed, "mmk"

He was still holding her hands, "now I want you to get cleaned up and I'll go check on Alexandra"

She nodded and let the man go.

He walked up to the teen's room and knocked. "Momma?"

"Alexandra it's Blake, your momma wanted me to check on you"

The teen got scared for a minute but shrugged it off, "it's open..."

He opened her door and stood by her bed, "hey, I won't do anything unless you say it's okay"

She sighed and nodded, "O.. Kay"

He smiled, "how's school?"

She bit her lip and looked away, "uhm.."

Blake noticed the nervousness in the teen, "I'm just gonna sit in this chair, okay"

She nodded, "I dunno if I like school..."

"Why might that be? Your momma told me about you makin the cheerleading squad"

She sighed, "that... Teacher. and... Bozeman.. Peacham... Likes me"

He wanted to hold her hands like he did for cricket but he just wanted to build a friendship with her first. "How do you know he likes you?"

"McKinney and Laura told me"

"Now, that may be true, but they could also be messin with ya"

"I dunno what I'm supposed to do..." She told him, hoping for a different answer.

Blake smiled, "well, what do you think, do you like Bozeman?"

She looked away and shrugged, she had never had a good man in her life so she didn't know. "I.. I'm not sure"

"That's okay, at first you may not know if you like the person, and it's okay to give them a chance."

"I... Don't know if I want to" she muttered.

"If you're scared that's okay too, if you want things to go slow, you can start by being able to trust me first" he suggested.

She nodded, "Kay..."

"You can talk to me, it can be whenever you need to, even if I'm not here just call me" he told her.

"Mmk... What's going on with you and my momma?" She asked him, sounding confused.

He smiled, "we're just friends right now, I took her to dinner tonight because I knew she deserved it. I'm gonna help her get better, and if you'll let me, I'll help you"

She thought for a few minutes and sighed, "how?"

The man smiled at her, "well, you can talk to me, and your momma really liked going to see the horses, so we thought it would be good for you too"

"I've.. Never been around horses.."

He kept smiling, "I have one I think you'll really like, you don't have to ride her but if you just come see her that's okay"

"Maybe... Can my momma come?" The teen asked.

"Sure, your momma can really ride, she might show you someday" Blake told her, he thought it would be great to build Alexandra's trust in both him and cricket.

"You think so?"

He nodded, "yeah, I've seen her. You can ask her about it if you want to"

"Mmk..." The teen yawned. Little did Blake know cricket had been quietly listening to the conversation for a while and was happy with the way he treated the teen.

Blake noticed the teen starting to fall asleep and smiled, "why don't you lay down and close your eyes, it's getting late"

Alexandra sighed and crawled into her bed. Blake helped her fix the sheets and smiled, "it's gonna be okay, just try to get some rest"

The teen curled up in a ball and pulled the covers up further. She nodded and mumbled, "where's momma?"

"Probably downstairs. I can tell her to come see you if you want"

She nodded but Cricket walked in right as he replied. "Hey darlin"

Alexandra relaxed a little more, "momma..."

The woman smiled and started rubbing her daughters shoulder. "I really want you to try sleepin, okay sweetheart"

The teen closed her eyes and Cricket and Blake stayed until she fell asleep. She was restless at first but Blake helped her calm down so she could sleep.

They left Alexandra's room and Cricket smiled, "you're so good with her..."

"What all did you hear?" He asked.

"Enough, I guess I'm gonna have to ride for her now..." She told him with a sigh.

"Yeah, I think it would be a good idea, and it'll help her start to trust if we teach her to ride" he suggested.

Cricket smiled, she was starting to think Blake really did care and she hoped she was right. "We can think about it.."

He smiled and gently squeezed her shoulders, "why don't you get some sleep too, I know you need it"

Cricket thought she was ready for him to stay with her at night but was afraid to ask. She didn't want him to say no, or hurt her. "Mmk..."

"Are you gonna be okay by yourself?" He asked her as they walked down the stairs.

"I think so..." She muttered.

"If you want me to stay, that's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you" he told her.

She nodded and looked away. She hated herself for being so vulnerable but she was surprised by how good he was to Alexandra and she had a feeling he'd be the same around her.

He smiled, "if you talk to me I won't tell anybody what you said, I promise"

"I don't understand why you're doing this..." She sighed.

"You and Alexandra both deserve it, I just want you to feel safe" he told her.

She hung her head, "I'm not worth it Blake, I'm just too screwed up"

"I know you've been through a lot but I want to know you aren't alone now" he said, taking her hands in his. He told himself that he'd do whatever it took to get Cricket to see that she was loved and there were people who cared about her.

She sighed and bit her lip. This wasn't something she was used to and she wasn't sure how to respond.

Blake noticed her insecurity and kept a steady grip on her hands. He wanted to hold her and tell her she was going to be okay. "Crick, I'm just gonna hold you, okay.."

She hesitantly nodded and let the man wrap his arms around her. She actually liked the way she felt in his arms, she felt safe, all of her fears were gone, and she felt like she could relax. He felt her body relaxing and smiled, "I really want you to get some sleep Crick, I know you need it"

She sighed and somehow her head found its way to his shoulder and she closed her eyes, "don't let go..."

He started to gently rub her back, "lets get you into bed, I can still hold you"

She sighed, "mmk..."

Blake knew she was starting to fall asleep, "can I pick you up Crick?"

She nodded into his shoulder and he scooped her up and carried her to bed. He sat in bed with her and let her lean on him while he wrapped an arm around her. She snuggled close to him and rested her head on his chest. She liked the feeling of having a warm body next to her as she slept, it made her feel safer and she realized she didn't take the sleeping pills when he stayed at night.

The next morning Cricket wasn't phased by his alarm that went off in time to get to work and she just snuggled in to him more. He sighed and just rubbed her back. A few minutes later he heard a deep cough coming from upstairs and knew Alexandra wasn't feeling well. He didn't want to leave cricket alone but he knew he should go check on the teen. He looked at the woman sleeping in his arms and just wanted her to realize that he loved her, and that he was going to be there to help her through everything. He sighed when she felt him rubbing her back and started clinging to him. He thought she was having a bad dream. He continued to rub her back and whispered a few calming words in her ear. She sighed and yawned. He knew she was waking up so he kept his arm gently around her and brushed some hair from her face, "shhh, just rest"

She yawned again and he smiled, he had a feeling she struggled to wake up in the morning and he wanted to help her, so he hoped he could work with her and just get her to take it easy.

She mumbled something into his chest but he just laughed, "Crick just get some more sleep"

"Work..." She whispered.

He sighed and kept rubbing her back, "don't worry about it, I'll deal with your daddy. You get your rest"

"Mmk.." She gave in to his suggestion and snuggled into him.

He continued to hold her as she drifted in and out of sleep. He kept hearing Alexandra coughing and hoped he could keep the teen home to rest. "Crick, I'm just gonna go check on Alexandra, you just stay here"

She whimpered, she felt so protected in his arms and she knew mason was nothing compared to him. "Don't leave.."

He rubbed her back, "she's been coughin Crick, I'm just gonna make sure she's alright"

She sighed and moved away so he could get up. He stood up and fixed the sheets around her. "Just sleep sweetie"

She was surprised when he called her that but deep down she loved it. She buried herself in her covers and Blake smiled as he left to check on her daughter.

He found a thermometer and gently knocked on the door to the teens room, "Alexandra.."

"Go away.." She whimpered.

"It's just Blake, your momma wanted me to come check on you" he calmly told her. She let him in and he could tell she wasn't feeling good at all. "How're you feelin?"

She whimpered and laid down in bed. He walked over to her, "what's buggin ya?"

She coughed, "my throat hurts... And I have a headache.."

He sighed, "can I just feel your forehead?"

She hesitantly nodded and he gently put his hand on her, "you're burnin up kiddo, I think you're gonna have to stay home today.."

She sighed, "no doctor..."

"I won't make you go yet, but I do want to check your temp and get some medicine in ya"

"Mmk.." She yawned.

He gently put the thermometer under her tongue and held it steady since he could tell she had no energy. He smiled at her and brushed some hair from her face. He gently took the thermometer when it beeped and sighed, "kiddo you've got a 102. You're staying in bed today"

She yawned and sighed, "fine..."

He smiled and left to get her some Tylenol. He was surprised by how much she looked like cricket when he came back in and she was sleeping on her side. He put a gentle hand on her shoulder, "I've got some medicine for ya, can you sit up for me?"

She pushed herself up and took the two red pills from him. "I hate this.."

He sighed, "I know, but I'm gonna take care of you, so you'll feel better soon."

She just nodded and looked at him, "I don't feel good"

"I know kiddo, I want you to lay down and relax" he told her.

She got up and made her way into the bathroom. About a minute later he heard her gagging and sighed. "Can I just come sit with ya?"

"Mmk.." She gagged.

He came in and felt bad for the teen who was on her bathroom floor. He gently took her long dark hair and held it back and started rubbing gentle circles on her back. "If you feel like you're gonna get sick it's okay to just let it out"

A few minutes later she threw up and Blake continued to rub her back, "shhh, just breathe"

She took some deep breaths and leaned back. "I don't like throwing up..." She whimpered.

He started to hold the sick teen and gently rock her, "no one does kiddo, but I'm here, so I'm gonna help you"

She relaxed into his arms and he smiled. "My daddy never had time for stuff like this..." She whimpered.

He held her close and rubbed her back, "I'm here as long as you need me to be, I know you're feelin bad and you shouldn't have to go through this alone."

She snuggled into him and this is when he knew he was starting to gain the teens trust. "I... Want... You to be my new.. Daddy"

He sighed, he hoped he could one day, "it's possible, I just need to talk to your momma darlin"

She nodded in his shoulder, "mmk"

He kept rubbing her back, "why don't you have some water and I'll help you back to bed"

She nodded and he helped her up. She slowly brushed her teeth and took some big gulps of water. He helped her get settled into bed and he cleaned up her bathroom. "Just rest kiddo, I'm gonna go talk to your momma"

She nodded and rolled over. Blake sighed, he knew the teen didn't feel loved when she was living with Mason and he wanted to change that for her, and Cricket. He knew it was too soon to tell Cricket this but he would talk to someone. He went back to crickets room to find her yelling at her father on the phone. He sighed and sat by her. She threw the phone down and he realized the call was still going, so he picked up, "Mr. Caruth..."

"Blake Reilly what are you doing keeping my daughter home from work?!" He yelled.

Blake was angry that the man didn't realize that cricket was healing, and some days were harder than others, "she's healing Mr. Caruth, believe it or not she has good days and bad days. I want you to know she's being taken care of and she's not alone" he told the man.

Clint sighed, "how long is this gonna last?"

"As long as it takes, there isn't a time table for someone who's been through what she has to heal. It could take her a couple months or a few years" he explained.

He felt bad for yelling at his daughter because he really didn't understand what all shed been through, "has she told you everything that's happened?"

Blake walked off so Cricket didn't have to hear his side of the conversation, "no, she's told me bits and pieces, but she may never tell anyone everything. I'm just trying to work with her and if she wants to talk I'm gonna listen"

The older man sighed, "how's Alexandra?"

"She's not feelin too good right now, she's runnin a fever and throwing up" Blake told him.

"Do you want me to call Cricket's doctor and see if she'll come check on her?"

"Not yet, I told Alexandra that she didn't have to go to the doctor right away" he told Clint. He wanted to show the teen that he could be honest to her and she could trust him.

"Alright, I should probably let you check on her then..." Clint replied, sighing.

"Okay. I'll let you know how she's doing later" Blake told him, a little angry that he didn't apologize for whatever he'd said to Cricket.

Clint just hung up and Blake went to check on Cricket to find her sitting on her bed sobbing. He sat down next to her but she got up and looked out her window, "Cricket..." He calmly said, he was really worried about what her daddy had told her.

"Blake just go. I'm not worth it" she cried.

His heart broke for the woman, her voice sounded so pained and he knew she was confused. "Come on now, lets use some words and figure this out"

She whimpered, "don't wanna"

He got up and stood by her, "remember what I told you, I'm gonna do whatever it takes to get you through this. So if I just have to stand here while you cry this out, I will"

She whimpered again, "did Alexandra get to school?"

"No, she wasn't feelin that great, she's runnin a fever and she threw up, but I gave her some medicine and she fell asleep again" he told the woman.

She sighed, "was... She okay with you checkin on her?"

He nodded, "yeah, after she got sick she told me that Mason never had time to help her like I was"

More tears pricked Cricket's eyes, "he didn't... She may get better faster if you keep checkin on her..."

He smiled, "alright. Now, lets work on dryin those tears. If you wanna scream I'll take you out back and you can let it out, if you wanna hit something that's okay too, just tell me what you wanna do"

Before he could say another word she sat down and held her head in her hands and let out a heart wrenching scream. This is when he knew Clint really got to her, and he was going to find out what the man said. He knelt down by her and gently rubbed her back, "just let it all out Crick, it's gonna be okay"

She let out another loud scream and Blake hoped Alexandra wouldn't hear, but he would explain it to the teen if she did. This was when Blake wanted to scoop the woman into his arms and hold her close in hopes of taking away some of her pain. He just kept rubbing her back and let her keep screaming for what seemed like forever. He hated seeing her so upset but he knew it was good for her to do this. "Crick lets just breathe for a couple minutes..."

She whimpered and took a shaky deep breath. He kept rubbing her back, "it'll be easier if you sit up, I promise"

She slowly sat up but didn't make eye contact, and it wasn't something he was going to push. "Just breathe with me Crick, nice and slow"

She struggled at first but he sat with her and helped her catch her breath from crying and screaming, "let's just sit here and I want you to keep breathing like you are, okay"

She nodded and continued to take the slow deep breaths that he got her to take.

He smiled when she was able to keep breathing in the same steady pattern that she was and he gently rubbed her back, "when you're ready, I want you to try using your words to tell me what made you so upset"

She hung her head and her breath hitched, "can't..."

He kept rubbing her back, "that's okay, just breathe, nice and slow"

He noticed that the more he helped her breathe the calmer she was. He knew she needed someone who could be patient with her and show her that it was okay to let her feelings show. He could see her eyes growing heavier with each calm breath she took, "lets get you back in bed, I want you to rest today"

She sighed, "I'm not tired.."

"You don't have to sleep, but I just want you to take it easy today" he told her.

"Mmk..." She mumbled.

He helped her up and got her situated in bed. "I'm gonna check on Alexandra, alright. Just relax"

She nodded and curled up under the covers.

**A/N: wow, long chapter. It was difficult to split this one up, so I hope you guys enjoy. **


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

It had been a couple days and Alexandra hadn't gotten any better so Clint called the doctor to come check on her. The teen wasn't happy and the only thing she wanted was Blake. He sat with her the entire time the doctor was there and she didn't want the man to leave so Cricket had to go get the teen's medicine. After the doctor left Blake could tell the teen was fighting sleep, "come on kiddo, just close your eyes, you'll feel better if you sleep"

She nodded but couldn't get herself to sleep. Blake was sitting on her desk chair, but she just wanted to be held. She didn't know how to ask him and was afraid that he'd say no, so she just continued to struggle to sleep. Blake sighed, "darlin what's keepin you up?"

She decided to try to ask him, "w... Will you.. Hold me?"

He smiled, "sure kiddo"

She sat up and he held her like he had held Cricket a few days ago. Within minutes she was sound asleep and he smiled and just rubbed her back. This was the scene Cricket walked in on when she came in with her daughters medicine five minutes later. Blake smiled at her, "I just got her to sleep. Lets wait on the medicine for a few minutes"

Cricket smiled, she knew she wanted to keep Blake in her life, he showed more interest in the teen than her own father ever did, and he had never complained about taking care of her. "Alright, I'll leave it on her desk. I think I'm gonna swing by the office for a few minutes while she's sleeping"

He sighed, "alright, I'll call you and let you know how she's doin later"

She just smiled and left. Mason would never just hold Alexandra when she couldn't sleep, and now Cricket wasn't sure if she was even Blake's girlfriend and he was holding her daughter while she slept and didn't feel good.

She got to the office and sighed when she saw her daddy, but knew she had to talk to him, "hey..."

"Hey darlin, look, I'm sorry I yelled at ya the other day. I was mad at somebody else and I shouldn't have taken it out on you" he told her. She was shocked, he never apologized for anything, so she didn't know if she should take it seriously. "Seriously?"

He sighed, he knew he should have apologized more when she was little and been more supportive when she finally mustered up the courage to tell him she was pregnant. "Yeah, Blake talked to me, I didn't realize you were still strugglin with what's happened, but if you're mad at me that's okay"

She just sighed, she decided to just tell him what she was thinking, "you made me cry daddy, I sat on the floor in my room and screamed for like an hour, and get this, Blake stayed, he let me scream, and he helped me calm down when I was done. No one has done that before..."

Clint sighed, but was thankful that Blake could be so patient with his daughter. "Cricket, let me tell you somethin, that man loves ya, I can tell. You need to keep him around."

"You think so? He's never said it..."

Clint had a feeling it was true and hoped that with time Blake would really start to show his daughter some love. "Give it a little time darlin, I know he wants to take things slow"

She sighed, "I've got some emails I need to respond to, Alexandra's sleepin and Blake's with her, so he let me stop by for a few minutes.."

Clint nodded, "alright, I really am sorry darlin, it's gonna get better"

She just shook her head and walked into her office.

Blake sat at Cricket's holding a sleeping teen for a few hours before she started to wake up. She opened her eyes and looked at him. He smiled, "hey sleepyhead.."

She yawned and whimpered. He just rubbed her back, "lets check your temp and get you some medicine"

She nodded and let him check, "it's still at 102 kiddo, I've got your medicine right here" he told her, grabbing the pill bottle.

She cooperated and took her medicine and laid back down. "How're you feelin?"

"Ugh..." She whined.

"That's okay, the medicine will help you soon." He reassured her.

She sighed and cuddled into him. Cricket got home again and smiled when he was still holding her daughter, "hey, you didn't have to.."

He smiled, "she wanted it, I just have her the medicine, she's still got that fever"

She sighed, "thanks Blake, really..."

He just smiled when the teen sat up, "momma..."

She sat by her daughter, "hey baby girl, did Blake take good care of ya?"

The teen nodded, "yeah... Better than daddy... Used to"

She sighed but Blake just rubbed the teens back. "Well that's good sweetie"

Blake smiled, but Alexandra started talking again, "I... Kinda asked Blake if he could be my new daddy..."

Cricket was surprised, but knew her daughter said things sometimes when she was sick that she didn't mean.

"Really hon?"

She nodded, "sorry..."

Cricket looked to Blake, who sighed, "don't be sorry, I know you just want things to be normal again, huh.."

The teen nodded again and cricket was a little surprised by his response. She thought maybe her dad was right, if Blake didn't love her he probably wouldn't be so patient with both her and Alexandra. Both adults were surprised when the teen started to talk again, "I can tell.. Blake likes me.. More than daddy ever did..."

Crickets heart broke for the teen and she was thankful the man was there to help the teen through this. He started to rub Alexandra's back, "I know your daddy did a lot of things he wasn't supposed to, and he hurt a lot of people, but I want you to know somethin, I'm never gonna hurt you, or your momma like he did, okay"

Cricket smiled and she knew she was safe with Blake around. He knew what to say to her upset teen, and she really liked that, because mason never took the time to comfort either one of them. They sat with Alexandra for about an hour and she finally got sleepy so Cricket put in a movie for her and they let her rest. Cricket couldn't stop smiling and Blake noticed this, but didn't say a word about it. He was happy that cricket was starting to be happy and he wanted her to stay that way. 

Blake kept checking in on Alexandra for the next few days while she got over her cold and he got even closer with Cricket.

She decided it was okay for them to be together and Cricket couldn't help but smile. Clint noticed the new smile on his daughters face and her voice sounded happier than it had ever been. One afternoon he came to her office to check up on her, "hey darlin"

She smiled, "hey daddy" he noticed a huge difference in her from the first day she was back at the office, and it was a good thing. She was calmer, happier, and the bruises were pretty much faded. "How're you doin?"

"Okay... Alexandra's doin better and Blake and I are.. together" she told him.

"That's good, I told ya Blake was a good man. What does Alexandra think of him?" Clint asked.

"She really likes him. He's so good with her, he treats her better than Mason ever did" Cricket said with a sigh.

Clint smiled, he was happy with Blake for taking in his daughter and guiding her through this part of her life. "That's really good darlin, just take it slow, alright"

She nodded and his phone started ringing but for the first time in Cricket's life he silenced it and hugged his daughter. "You coulda answered that daddy.."

"I know, but I never have put you before work, and I think you deserve it" he told her.

She just sighed and accepted the hug from her father. He held her for a few minutes, before she started to squirm. "Sorry.." She mumbled.

"No, that's okay. You don't need to apologize if you don't wanna be touched" he told her.

She sighed and sat down at her desk. She saw an email from Alexandra's coach asking how she was doing and reminding Cricket that there was a father daughter event at the next game. The email also said that she had a teacher in mind to help Alexandra out if the teen was willing to do it. She sighed and Clint could tell Cricket was frustrated. "What is it darlin?"

"Father daughter thing for the cheer squad is next week..." She told him.

He sighed, "well I'll do it, or what about Blake..."

Cricket remembered how he had often stood her up for father daughter events and the coach's husband had to take over. "Remember how many times you actually showed up for mine?" She angrily told him.

He sighed, "I'm sorry darlin, but Alexandra's is next weekend, right?"

She nodded, a little too angry to talk.

"I'm gonna try to clear my schedule incase she wants me to do it" he told her.

"Fine, but don't be surprised if she picks Blake instead..."

"That's okay. I know she likes him..." Clint sighed.

Cricket nodded and he let his daughter be. She messaged the coach back saying that the teen would be back at school the next day, and that either Alexandra's grandfather, or Blake would be there for the teen.

Blake knew he needed to do something about Alexandra being so desperate for a father figure in her life. He hated seeing her so alone and he wanted to change it. He called Ripp, he knew it was too early to propose still but he wanted to make things better for them.

"Hey Blake.."

"Hey Ripp... There's somethin I wanna talk to you about.."

"Okay, how's Cricket doin?" He asked.

"Actually, that's why I called. She's startin to get better, slowly, but she's healin" Blake explained.

"Well that's good to know. Has she ever said much about what happened in California?"

"Bits and pieces. I don't think she'll ever tell me the full story" he sighed.

"What about her daughter? Carlene told me shed gotten pretty sick.."

"She's gettin better, though, she did ask me to be her new daddy.." Blake told him.

"Wow, so things with mason really were that bad then.." Ripp sighed.

"Yeah, but both of them are doing so much better. And I told Alexandra that it was possible that I could be her new dad..."

"Well you know you'd have to marry Cricket before you could" Ripp told him.

"Yeah, I know. I just think it's still way too early to propose.." He told his friend.

"Probably. But you could talk to her about it, and just see how she reacts and you'll be able to tell if she's ready" Ripp told him.

He sighed, "I'll see how that goes, I can tell big changes aren't easy for her.."

"True, but she seems to be doin okay with you helpin her"

"Yeah, but she still struggles. I just want her and Alexandra to feel loved again" Blake told him.

"They will, it's probably a good thing you've been there from the beginning and not someone else, she's starting to trust you.." He told him.

"I've noticed that, but I've got a meeting coming up, so I'll let you know how it goes when I talk to her"

The two men hung up the phone and Blake went to his meeting.

Later that night cricket called Blake to talk to him about the father daughter thing. "Hey Blake..."

"Hey crick, how're you doin?" He replied.

"Okay... Hey, I've got a question"

"Alright, what is it?" He calmly asked.

She gulped, "Alexandra's cheer coach emailed me today and said there's this father daughter thing this weekend.. I don't actually trust my daddy to do it, can you?"

Blake smiled, "sure, do you want me to come talk to Alexandra about it?"

Cricket was happy, "you can, I think she'd really like that"

Blake hung up the phone and made his way to his girlfriend's house. She let him in and smiled. "Alexandra's upstairs.."

The man nodded and made his way to the teen's room. The door was opened but he knocked anyway, "Alexandra..."

The teen smiled, "hey..."

He came in and smiled at her, "how're you feelin?"

"Better, no fever... I'm just tired" she told him with a yawn.

"That's good, can I talk to ya for a minute?"

She nodded, "about what?"

"Your momma told me that there's a father daughter event with the cheer squad this weekend, and she asked me if I would do it with you..." He explained.

"Are you?" She nervously asked.

He smiled, "of course. I don't want you feelin left out. I know that sucks."

The teen smiled, she wanted to look like she had a normal family and by having Blake do the father daughter dance with her it would help. "Mmk.." She wanted to hug him but wasn't sure if she could.

He noticed the teen had a longing look in her eyes, "if you want a hug kiddo that's okay, all you have to do is hug me"

The teen threw herself on the man and Blake held her. Mason never just hugged his daughter and the fact that Blake let her hug him meant a lot to the seventeen year old. He held her for a while and let her get used to the hug. He could feel her body relaxing as she got more comfortable in his arms. "I really haven't gotten a hug lately.." The teen sighed.

Blake rubbed her back, "You're with me right now, I don't want you to be scared to ask me or your momma for a hug darlin"

She sighed and didn't want the man to let go. She felt safe and she wasn't afraid. A few minutes later the teen slowly let go of the man who she already thought of as her new father and smiled. "Thanks..."

"Don't you worry, I'm always gonna be here for you and your momma" he told her, squeezing her hands.

The teen smiled and yawned. "I think I want a nap... Mommas making me go to school tomorrow.."

"You're doin a lot better, you've kept your fever down, which is really good. But I'll be there for the cheerleading thing, I promise" he told her.

She nodded and sat on her bed. He helped her get situated and she was asleep shortly after.

**A/N: I'm going to try to bring this story to an end soon. I have some more written and I'm trying to figure out how to finish this up. Let me know if you guys have any ideas**


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

Blake made his way downstairs and saw Cricket sitting on the couch drinking coffee. He sat by her and she didn't move much. Blake wanted to try to get her a little more comfortable with him being close to her. "Cricket, I know you've been so hurt, but I want you to feel like you can relax around me, I promised I'd only touch you if you let me, but I want you to see that not every time someone touches you it has to hurt"

"What... Do you mean..." She mumbled.

He sighed, "like when I rub your back, hold your hands, or hold you at night when you can't sleep. I wanna work on that a little more with you, if you can just let me do those things it'll help you build some trust."

She shrugged, "I can... Try.."

Blake smiled, "trying is a good thing, especially when you're healing. We can take this as slow as you want."

She hesitantly held out her hand for him and he took it. This made him smile, and it showed she was willing to try.

He felt the tenseness in her hand, "all I'm doing is squeezing your hand, try to relax for me"

"It's hard..." She whimpered.

He kept holding her hand, "if you can tell me why, maybe I can help"

"I'm just... Scared" she sighed.

"What scares ya?" He asked, still holding her hand.

"It's stupid" she mumbled.

"No Crick, nothing you tell me is stupid, pointless, or wrong. Especially if its about your feelings" he reassured her.

She sighed and gulped, "I still... Think he's gonna come from somewhere and... Hurt me..."

Blake felt bad but this explained a lot. She was still living in fear and was still a little jumpy. "Crick, he'll never be able to lay a hand on you again, you're away from all of that now and here with me"

"Promise?" She asked.

He started rubbing her knuckles with his thumb, "look at me Crick.."

She slowly made eye contact, but it was hesitant and didn't last long. He smiled, "come on, I know you can hold your gaze a little longer." She was being stubborn so he gently guided her head with his finger and held it so she looked into his eyes. She tried to look away but he held her steady, "I promise Crick, no one will hurt you again"

She sighed and still struggled to hold the eye contact. He was patient and helped hold her head so she could try to hold the steady gaze. He knew it would be a while before she felt comfortable with it so he let her relax. "We're gonna keep working on that, okay. If you can hold eye contact with someone you'll feel a little safer. But you're doin good, you just have to want to"

She just nodded, "Mason.. Never cared if I made eye contact with him... Only if... It was when he... Threatened... Me"

Blake sighed, "sweetheart, I don't want you feeling threatened, so I'm not going to constantly push the eye contact, but I do want you to work on it"

She melted when he called her sweetheart and wasn't sure how to react. She fiddled with the end of her shirt, "you're not threatening me?"

"I would never do that Crick, I just want you to get better" he reassured her.

She nodded, but she still felt a little anxious. Blake noticed and kept his gentle grip on her hand, "lets try that slow, easy breathing again Crick.."

She sighed but let him help her with the slow breaths and eventually she started to calm down. He made sure she had her breathing under control before he tried to get her to talk. He wanted her focus to be on the slow breaths and not what she was trying to say. "Do you wanna lay down and rest? I'll stay right here.."

She hesitantly leaned on the man and he smiled. He decided talking about getting married would have to wait. The woman snuggled into him and he rubbed her back.

"Sleeping is part of healing too, so if you feel like you're gonna fall asleep that's okay sweetie"

She contently sighed and he just held her. She liked how he could help her go from anxious to happy without much effort. She never did this with mason, he never held her just because, or when she was upset. She took a breath, "Blake... What did I do to make you start calling me sweetie?"

He sighed, but kept his hand on her back, "you're my girlfriend Crick, I care about you, there was nothing you did. I just thought it was something you'd like to hear"

She nodded, "Mason... Never called me any of that... Ever. It was always just Cricket..."

Blake's heart broke when he realized that the only other man she had heard those words from was her daddy. He started to gently run his fingers through her shoulder length hair, "it won't be like that now, okay. I want to show you that I care"

She sighed but took his answer and let him keep playing with her hair. She relaxed into him and didn't want him to leave. "He never did this either..."

He just sighed, "shhh Crick, stop trying to compare him to me, I don't want you stressing yourself out over that, okay"

She just whimpered, "I'm not used to some of this yet. I've never had a... Good relationship..."

He continued playing with her hair, "you do now, I'll never hurt you, I just want you to feel safe, and loved"

She sighed and snuggled back into him. "Can... You just hold me? I don't wanna talk anymore..."

He nodded, "alright, just rest. If you fall asleep that's okay"

She didn't respond and just nestled her head in his chest and was calmed by the warmth and his steady heartbeat. He smiled and ran his hand through her hair and to her back to help her relax. He noticed her blue eyes growing heavy so he just kept rubbing gentle circles on her back. About ten minutes later she finally succumbed to sleep even though it was the middle of the day he thought that if her body needed the rest it was okay. This was when she got her best sleep, but he didn't know that, so he ended up holding her for almost two hours. He gave her a very gentle kiss on the top of her head and it was what she needed to relax back into sleep because she was starting to stir.

He started thinking while holding his sleeping girlfriend, and since it was late afternoon he knew her teenage daughter would be hungry soon. He glanced at his watch and it was nearing six. He also knew that if he let cricket sleep much longer she wouldn't sleep that night. Alexandra came down stairs and into the living room to see Blake holing her and opened her mouth to talk but he shook his head. "she's been sleepin for two hours, she needs it. But don't worry, I'm staying as long as she sleeps, and I'll make sure you both get something to eat"

Alexandra nodded, "is she sick?"

"No, her body just needs to rest to get some strength back. I'm gonna make sure she's okay, I promise" he told her, hoping they wouldn't wake Cricket.

The teen nodded, "alright... I don't wanna wake her up.."

Blake smiled as the seventeen year old walked back upstairs and Cricket wasn't bothered by the conversation. Another hour passed before she squirmed in his arms. He rubbed her back and gave her another gentle kiss on the top of her head but she yawned this time. He smiled as she stretched an arm like a cat, "hey sleepyhead.."

She yawned again and groaned. "I'm up?"

This made him laugh, "I just want you to take it slow, don't sit up yet, close your eyes again if you want, let your body adjust"

"I'm okay Blake..." She whined.

He rubbed her back, "give your body some time to wake up Crick, you're still resting"

She sighed but let her eyes droop closed again. A few minutes later she opened her eyes again, feeling a little more awake. "Blake..."

"Yeah sweetie" he smiled.

"I need to make dinner..."

He just rubbed her back, "no, I'm taking you and Alexandra out. Right now I want you to try to stay relaxed"

She nodded and just laid there by him. After a few minutes she pushed herself up and stretched. "How'd you sleep?"

"No nightmares..." She told him with a yawn.

He smiled, "that's good, how do you feel?"

She sighed, "Blake I'm fine. I guess I didn't realize I was tired"

He rubbed her back, "we can work on that. But it's good you took a nap, I want you to be able to fall asleep on your own too"

She just nodded and went to get ready for dinner. Blake went to tell the teen and she was happy. He could tell that the dinner made Cricket happy and she was calm and relaxed when Blake brought them home.

**A/N: Sorry this took so long. I didn't realize it was finished in my word documents and I was doing some spring cleaning to my computer and found this! Happy May everyone! **


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: so this is basically what would happen if it had been Cricket, instead of Amanda who moved back to Dallas in the beginning. Eventual Blicket. I hope y'all enjoy! I'm still devastated over the fact that this amazing show has been cancelled. Please sign the petition to bring it back! Happy reading. **

It had been about a month and Alexandra was on winter break so Blake decided to take her and Cricket to the ranch for a few days to relax. They got there late the first night so Blake just made them something to eat and held Cricket by the fire. He could tell she was happy and it made him smile, "things are so much nicer now than they were this time last year.." She mumbled into his chest.

He gently kissed her, she was starting to get comfortable with his touch, but still tensed sometimes.

"Sweetie, you've been through so much, but you've gotten so much better. I brought you out here so the horses could help you get stronger, and so we can work on your trust a little bit" he said, rubbing her back.

She sighed and just snuggled with him. She loved it when he held her, and the ladies at church noticed her happiness when he would come stand by her at coffee hour. "Alexandra's kinda nervous about learnin to ride"

"I'm takin her out there early, I want you sleepin in and you can come ride when you get up" he told the woman.

She just nodded and let him hold her until it was time for them to go to bed.

The next morning Blake had to calm Cricket back to sleep so he could work with Alexandra. The teen met him in the kitchen and nervously smiled, "where's momma?"

"Still sleepin, she'll be down later in the mornin"

The teen sighed, "I want her out there..."

Blake could tell she was nervous, "I'm gonna be with you, we don't have to ride until your momma comes. I just want you to see the horses"

She hesitantly nodded and followed him out to the barn. He wrapped an arm around her and led her to one of the stalls. She stood close to him and just watched the horse come closer to her. "This is the horse I got your momma for Christmas, she doesn't know yet, but she'll see her soon"

"Why'd you get her a horse?"

"So she'd have one of her own, she loves horses.." He told the teen.

She just sighed and her attention was drawn to a light brown horse two stalls down. Blake noticed and quietly walked that way with the teen. "This is Sadie, your momma loves this one, she's so gentle" Blake told her.

Sadie lowered it's head so they could pet her but it startled Alexandra. Blake rubbed the teens back, "she just wants to be petted, she won't hurt you"

She just nodded and watched Blake gently hold the horses head so the teen could try to pet her. She did try and Blake smiled, "I want you to try somethin, there's an open area at the end of the barn, and I want you to just try walkin with her there"

Alexandra just looked at him but he smiled, "I'll be right next to you, promise"

She nodded and let Blake get Sadie ready for her. He led the horse to the open area and Alexandra followed. He had her hold the reins with him for a while and they just walked. He smiled when she started to relax, "I'm going to let go, and I just want you to keep doing what you're doing"

She shook her head and was nervous. He put a hand on her back, "I'll be right behind you, I'll grab her whenever you need me to"

The teen just nodded and Blake let go. This was the scene a sleepy Cricket walked in on a few minutes later. She stood back and watched Blake help her daughter walk Sadie around the barn. "Are you ready to try sittin on her?"

The teen looked a little scared but nodded. Blake and a ranch hand helped the teen up on the horse. Blake showed her where to hold on and told her to relax. He smiled and started to walk Sadie in the same slow pace they were before. Alexandra became more comfortable as she spent more time on the horse. Cricket was happy with the way Blake could keep the teen calm and work with her in a way that she felt comfortable.

Cricket watched this until Alexandra was ready to get down and Blake brought the horse back to her stall. This was when he noticed cricket, "hey sleepyhead.."

She just laughed, "you're so good with her..."

"She was so nervous, but Sadie is the calmest horse, so it helped her a lot" he told the woman.

Cricket just smiled, "can I ride her?"

"Actually there's something I want you to see.." He smiled.

She just followed him to a stall that held the dark brown horse. She didnt remember seeing this horse the last time, "Blake... What's this"

He gently wrapped his arms around her, "merry Christmas Crick, I want you to have your own horse."

She sighed, in the past Mason had apologized with a very large piece of jewelry and waited a few days after Christmas to hurt her again. But this year it wasn't even Christmas yet, and Blake had gotten her a horse. "Really?"

"Yeah, we can keep her here, but she's all yours, all you have to do is name her" he explained.

Cricket was quiet, she couldn't think of a name. She just shrugged and Blake rubbed her shoulders, "if you don't know yet that's okay. Just take it slow when you ride her, okay"

She nodded and Blake watched her take her time with the new horse. He knew a new horse would help cricket a lot. She had to be gentle and patient to help the horse trust her and even though she struggled a little, she let Blake help calm the horse. She eased herself onto the new horse and smiled. She just walked with her horse for a few minutes to let it get used to her. She stayed in the barn for a while but then took her out to the open area outside and started teaching it to run the barrels. She really wanted Sadie, that horse knew she liked to go fast and it helped her feel free. Blake decided it was okay for her to run Sadie for a while and she climbed up onto the horse she loved. The horse was happy to be run around the barrels and Blake decided that later that night he was going to do something special for her. 


End file.
